Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2025
In the Eastern District of Texas, 1,087 people were sentenced for firearms offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 1,040 (96%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 46 months (3.8 years), compared with 42 months for firearms in all 94 federal districts. Sentences within the guideline
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2 › Firearms: Eastern District of Texas
In brief: In the Eastern District of Texas, 1,087 people were sentenced for firearms offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 1,040 (96%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 46 months (3.8 years), compared with 42 months for firearms in all 94 federal districts. Sentences within the guideline range were 72% (787).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 1,087 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.
Sentences Within the Guideline Range
The guideline range is the range the Commission's guidelines calculate for each case. In this district, 72% of firearms sentences (787) were within it.
Below the range at the government's request were 13% (136), and below the range without a government request were 6% (70). Above the range were 9% (94).
Across all 94 districts, 52% of firearms sentences were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the figure was 64%. Sentences within the range were more common here than nationwide for this offense type.
Prison Terms
A prison term went to 1,040 of the 1,087 people, and 39 (4%) received probation only. The median was 46 months. A quarter received 63 months or more, and a quarter received 30 months or less.
The median for all districts was 42 months, which is lower than the median here. For all offenses in this district, the median was 64.5 months, which is higher than the firearms median.
Nationwide, 94% of people sentenced for firearms offenses were sent to prison. The terms are those imposed, not time served.
Which Guidelines Are Involved?
"Firearms" is the Commission's offense type, assigned by the primary guideline. Most people, 970, were sentenced under §2K2.1 (Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Firearms or Ammunition).
Small numbers were sentenced under §2K1.3 (Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Explosive Materials) with 3, §2X3.1 (Accessory After the Fact) with 2, and §2K2.5 (Possession of Firearm or Dangerous Weapon in Federal Facility) with 1.
Firearms cases were 14% of the 7,998 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
Mandatory Minimums
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 134 of the 1,087 people (12%). A mandatory minimum is a prison term set by statute that applies to certain offenses.
The records do not show which statute applied in a given case.
Guilty Pleas Versus Trials
A total of 1,067 people (98%) pleaded guilty, and 20 were convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 96% had a written plea agreement and 4% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 46 months. After a trial it was 85.5 months, based on 20 people. Cases that go to trial may differ in many ways, so the records cannot show what going to trial changes.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 1,039 people (96%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 39 people (4%), and restitution for 27 (2%).
In criminal history, 18% were in the lowest category and 18% were in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Fiscal Year Counts
From fiscal years 2016 to 2019, 313 people were sentenced. From fiscal years 2020 to 2025, 774 were sentenced. The fiscal year runs from October 1 through the end of September.
Fiscal year 2024 had the most people in the table, with 191, and a median of 40 months. Fiscal year 2016 had 74 people and a median of 57 months. The records cannot show why yearly medians differ.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 74 | 57 months | 100% |
| 2017 | 74 | 60 months | 99% |
| 2018 | 97 | 51 months | 98% |
| 2019 | 68 | 46 months | 97% |
| 2020 | 108 | 48 months | 95% |
| 2021 | 96 | 37 months | 98% |
| 2022 | 115 | 48 months | 98% |
| 2023 | 114 | 46 months | 98% |
| 2024 | 191 | 40 months | 98% |
| 2025 | 150 | 47 months | 100% |
What the Data Does Not Include
Only convicted and sentenced people are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, and individual case facts are not described.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Texas East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Firearms" (1,087). 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.
Mandatory minimum sentences. Many federal statutes on drugs, images of child exploitation, child sex abuse, and firearms carry mandatory minimum prison terms. The UCMJ has mandatory minimums only for a few offenses (a dishonorable discharge or dismissal for rape and sexual assault, and life for premeditated murder). Federal sentences for these offenses are partly set by Congress, not by the judge.
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 Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Money Laundering Sentences in the Eastern District of Texas, 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.