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# Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-southern-district-of-indiana/
- Published: 2026-11-04T11:05:38.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T11:05:38.000Z
- Description: 1,008 people were sentenced for firearms offenses in the Southern District of Indiana in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The median prison term was 46 months (3.8 years), compared with 42 months for all 94 federal districts. 953 people (95%) received a prison term.
- 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 Southern District of Indiana, FY201](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-southern-district-of-indiana/) › Firearms: Southern District of Indiana

**In brief:** 1,008 people were sentenced for firearms offenses in the Southern District of Indiana in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. The median prison term was 46 months (3.8 years), compared with 42 months for all 94 federal districts. 953 people (95%) received a prison term.

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 1,008 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/).

## Prison Terms for Firearms Offenses

953 of the 1,008 people (95%) were sent to prison, and 44 (4%) received probation only. For all 94 districts, 94% were sent to prison.

The median prison term was 46 months. A quarter received 70 months or more, and a quarter received 27 months or less. For all offenses in the Southern District of Indiana, the median was 70 months. The median for all 94 districts was lower than the median here.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 50               | 48 months     | 98%            |
| 2017        | 64               | 60 months     | 97%            |
| 2018        | 84               | 48 months     | 100%           |
| 2019        | 116              | 37 months     | more than 99%  |
| 2020        | 149              | 37 months     | 98%            |
| 2021        | 131              | 37 months     | 97%            |
| 2022        | 183              | 46 months     | 98%            |
| 2023        | 93               | 57 months     | 99%            |
| 2024        | 52               | 43 months     | 98%            |
| 2025        | 86               | 60 months     | 95%            |

## Trials Led to Longer Median Terms

987 of 1,008 people (98%) pleaded guilty, and 21 were convicted after a trial. For all 94 districts, 97% pleaded guilty.

The median prison term was 46 months after a guilty plea and 100 months after a trial, which is based on 21 people. Among those who pleaded guilty, 84% had a written plea agreement and 16% were straight pleas with no agreement.

## Criminal History Was Often at the High End

22% of the people were in the highest criminal history category, category VI, and 15% were in the lowest, category I. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so there is no military counterpart for this measure.

A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 74 of the 1,007 people with that information recorded (7%).

## Which Guideline Applied?

Firearms is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type. For 999 people the primary guideline was §2K2.1 (Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Firearms or Ammunition). Smaller groups had §2K1.3 (Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Explosive Materials), with 3 people, and §2K2.6 (Possessing, Purchasing, or Owning Body Armor by Violent Felons), with 2.

## Position Against the Guideline Range

56% of sentences (568 people) were within the advisory guideline range. 31% (309 people) were below the range without a government request, and 9% (93 people) were below it at the government's request. 4% (38 people) were above the range.

The within-range share was 52% for firearms in all 94 districts and 43% for all offenses in this district.

## Supervision, Fines, and Restitution

935 people (93%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 456 people (45%), and restitution for 26 (3%).

## Caseload and Yearly Counts

Firearms cases were 24% of the 4,205 people sentenced in this district. 314 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 694 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. Yearly counts range from 50 in fiscal year 2016 to 183 in fiscal year 2022.

Yearly medians range from 37 to 60 months. The records do not show why the counts and medians differ from year to year.

## What the Records Cannot Show

The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it. Prison terms are those imposed, not time served.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Indiana (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Indiana South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Firearms" (1,008). 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 Southern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-southern-district-of-indiana/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-southern-district-of-indiana/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-southern-district-of-indiana/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Robbery Sentences in the Southern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-robbery-sentences-southern-district-of-indiana/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Child Pornography Sentences in the Southern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-child-pornography-sentences-southern-district-of-indiana/) (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.