Federal Extortion and Racketeering Sentences in the Southern District of Ohio, FY2016–2025
All 10 people sentenced for extortion and racketeering offenses in the Southern District of Ohio were sent to prison, and all 10 pleaded guilty. The median prison term was 15 months. For this offense type in all 94 federal districts, the median was 30 months.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Southern District of Ohio, FY2016–2 › Extortion and Racketeering: Southern District of Ohio
In brief: All 10 people sentenced for extortion and racketeering offenses in the Southern District of Ohio were sent to prison, and all 10 pleaded guilty. The median prison term was 15 months. For this offense type in all 94 federal districts, the median was 30 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 10 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Acquittals and dismissals come from a second source, the Federal Judicial Center's records of 753,808 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. It is part of the Federal Prosecution Analysis series, which builds on Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System. How the numbers were built: How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built.
Every Case Ended With a Guilty Plea and a Prison Term
The district sentenced 10 people in this offense type. All 10 (100%) received a prison term, and all 10 (100%) pleaded guilty. None was convicted after a trial.
Every guilty plea had a written plea agreement. No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 10 people.
In all districts, 81% of people in this type were sent to prison and 95% pleaded guilty. For all offenses in this district, 98% pleaded guilty.
How Long Were the Prison Terms?
The median prison term was 15 months. A quarter of the terms were 3 months or less, and a quarter were 24.7 months or more.
For extortion and racketeering cases in all districts, 1,515 people were sentenced and the median was 30 months. For all offenses in this district, the median was 36 months. Terms are the sentences imposed, not time served.
Which Guidelines Were Used?
"Extortion/Racketeering" is a U.S. Sentencing Commission offense type, assigned by each case's primary guideline. It is a Commission category and not a single statute.
The most common was §2B3.2 (Extortion by Force or Threat of Injury or Serious Damage), with 6 cases. 2 cases used §2E1.1 (Unlawful Conduct Relating to Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations). 1 used §2E1.2 (Interstate or Foreign Travel or Transportation in Aid of a Racketeering Enterprise), and 1 used §2B3.3 (Blackmail and Similar Forms of Extortion).
Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range
Of the 10 sentences, 20% (2) were within the guideline range. 40% (4) were below the range at the government's request, and 20% (2) were below it without a government request. 20% (2) were above the range.
2 of the 10 sentences were above the range, but the count is small. For this offense type in all districts, 36% of sentences were within the range. For all offenses in this district, 27% were.
After Prison: Supervision, Fines, and Restitution
9 people (90%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 24 months. A fine was ordered for 1 (10%), and restitution for 6 (60%).
60% were in the lowest criminal history category, category I, and 10% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Year-by-Year Counts
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 6 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 4. Extortion and racketeering cases were less than 1% of the 5,580 people sentenced in the district. The table shows no year with more than 3 people.
The median prison terms in the table run from 0 months to 30 months. With 1 to 3 people in each year, these rows cannot show a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 3 | 15 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2017 | 1 | 15 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2019 | 2 | 22.4 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2021 | 2 | 30 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2022 | 2 | 0 months | 2 of 2 |
What the Data Does Not Show
The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Dismissals and acquittals are not included, so the records say nothing about charges that ended another way.
Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal court.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Ohio (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Ohio South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Extortion/Racketeering" (10). Offense types are the Commission's OFFGUIDE categories.
Federal fiscal years run from October 1 to September 30. No person, judge, or lawyer is identified in any of these records.
What to Keep in Mind
No parole in federal prison; credit for good conduct. Federal prison has no parole for crimes committed on or after November 1, 1987. A federal prisoner can earn up to 54 days of good conduct credit for each year of the sentence the judge imposed, which is about 15%. Some federal prisoners can also earn First Step Act time credits, but many offenses make a person ineligible. The numbers in this post are the sentences judges imposed, not the time people actually served.
Federal supervised release. Most federal prison sentences are followed by a term of supervised release that the judge sets as part of the sentence. A person who violates it can be sent back to prison. A court-martial cannot sentence anyone to supervision after release. Military parole and mandatory supervised release are decided later by a board, not by the judge at trial.
Who decides the sentence, and under what rules. Federal judges sentence every federal case. They must calculate the Sentencing Guidelines range, which is advisory, and must impose any mandatory minimum the statute requires unless an exception applies. In courts-martial, the accused could choose sentencing by members until the rules changed. For cases in which every guilty finding is for an offense committed after December 27, 2023, a military judge sentences alone, within sentencing parameters. Courts-martial tried in 2024 and later include both old-rule and new-rule cases, and the data cannot tell them apart.
Time periods. Federal numbers are by federal fiscal year (October 1 to September 30), based on the sentencing date. The military numbers are by trial date. Neither source has the date of the offense, so a change in law shows up in either data set gradually.
How life sentences and "time served" are counted. In the federal numbers, a life sentence is counted as 470 months, and any other sentence longer than 470 months is counted as just under 470 months. A sentence of "time served" is counted as one day (0.03 months). Averages are affected by these rules; medians much less.
Related Analysis
- Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- Federal Sentences in the Southern District of Ohio, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of Ohio, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of Ohio, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of Ohio, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Ohio, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles (source)
- Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants) (source)
About the author. Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts Where All The Bodies Are Buried and runs the Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.