> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of New York, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-northern-district-of-new-york/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:59:50.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:59:50.000Z - Description: In the Northern District of New York, 298 people were sentenced for firearms offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The median prison term was 37 months, compared with 42 months for firearms cases in all 94 federal districts. Of the 298, 92% received a prison term and 98% pleaded guilty. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [Federal Sentences in the Northern District of New York, FY20](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-northern-district-of-new-york/) › Firearms: Northern District of New York **In brief:** In the Northern District of New York, 298 people were sentenced for firearms offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. The median prison term was 37 months, compared with 42 months for firearms cases in all 94 federal districts. Of the 298, 92% received a prison term and 98% pleaded guilty. Updated November 4, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025 This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 298 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/). ## What Is Distinctive About Firearms Cases in This District? The median prison term for firearms cases in the Northern District of New York was 37 months, or 3.1 years. For firearms cases in all 94 federal districts together, the median was 42 months. That makes the district median lower than the national figure for the same offense type. Prison was also somewhat less common here. In the district, 274 of 298 people (92%) received a prison term, and 21 (7%) received probation only. Across all districts, 94% of people sentenced for firearms offenses went to prison. Firearms cases made up 8% of the 3,763 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. The median prison term for all offenses in the district was 24 months, so firearms cases carried longer prison terms than the district's cases as a whole. ## What Counts as a Firearms Case? "Firearms" is the offense type the U.S. Sentencing Commission assigns to a case based on its primary sentencing guideline. It is a category set by the Commission, not a count of every case in which a gun appeared. The most common primary guideline was §2K2.1 (Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Firearms or Ammunition), which applied to 290 of the 298 people. The only other guideline listed in the data was §2X3.1 (Accessory After the Fact), with 2 people. The data covers only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it, and the prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served. ## Guilty Pleas, Trials, and Mandatory Minimums Of the 298 people, 292 (98%) pleaded guilty and 6 were convicted after a trial. Across all districts, the guilty plea rate for firearms cases was 97%. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 37 months. After a trial it was 55.5 months, based on only 6 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. A group that small cannot show a reliable pattern. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 22 of the 298 people (7%). Among those who pleaded guilty, 71% had a written plea agreement and 29% entered a straight plea with no agreement. ## Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range Federal judges calculate an advisory guideline range for each case. In this district, 56% of firearms sentences (167 people) were within that range. For firearms cases in all districts, 52% were within the range. Another 19% (57 people) were below the range at the government's request, and 22% (67 people) were below the range without a government request. Only 2% (7 people) were above the range. The district-wide figure for all offenses was 53% within the range. ## After Prison: Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution Supervised release followed prison for 270 people (91%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 21 people (7%), and restitution for 17 (6%). On criminal history, 26% of the people were in the lowest category, criminal history category I, and 10% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so that measure has no counterpart in military cases. ## Year-by-Year Counts Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 together had 108 people sentenced for firearms offenses in the district. Fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 190\. The table shows each year, and the single-year counts range from 22 to 44, which are small numbers. The year-to-year medians move up and down, from 27 months in fiscal year 2025 to 46 months in fiscal years 2017 and 2024\. With so few people in each year, the records do not support calling any of these changes a trend. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 22 | 37 months | 100% | | 2017 | 33 | 46 months | 97% | | 2018 | 29 | 41 months | 97% | | 2019 | 24 | 40 months | 92% | | 2020 | 22 | 41 months | 95% | | 2021 | 23 | 42.5 months | 100% | | 2022 | 44 | 36 months | 100% | | 2023 | 33 | 36 months | 100% | | 2024 | 34 | 46 months | 97% | | 2025 | 34 | 27 months | 100% | ## What the Records Cannot Show Fort Drum, New York, is a military installation in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal district court, and this post reports federal numbers on their own. The records do not show the facts of any case, the quality of the evidence, or why a sentence was above or below the guideline range. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of New York (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "New York North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Firearms" (298). 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article) - [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts) - [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method) - [Federal Sentences in the Northern District of New York, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-northern-district-of-new-york/) (overview) - [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Northern District of New York, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-northern-district-of-new-york/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of New York, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-northern-district-of-new-york/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of New York, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-northern-district-of-new-york/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Child Pornography Sentences in the Northern District of New York, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-child-pornography-sentences-northern-district-of-new-york/) (same district, other offense type) - [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source) - [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.