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# Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-southern-district-of-mississippi/
- Published: 2026-11-04T11:03:59.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T11:03:59.000Z
- Description: 77% of the 741 people sentenced for firearms offenses in the Southern District of Mississippi in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a sentence within the guideline range. The figure for firearms cases in all 94 districts was 52%. The median prison term was 46 months (3.8 years).
- 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 Mississippi, F](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-southern-district-of-mississippi/) › Firearms: Southern District of Mississippi

**In brief:** 77% of the 741 people sentenced for firearms offenses in the Southern District of Mississippi in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a sentence within the guideline range. The figure for firearms cases in all 94 districts was 52%. The median prison term was 46 months (3.8 years).

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 741 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/).

## Most Sentences Were Within the Guideline Range

The guideline range is the range the court calculates under the Sentencing Guidelines. 569 of 740 people with the information (77%) were sentenced within it.

13% (99) were below the range without a government request, and 4% (27) were below it at the government's request. 6% (45) were above the range.

For all offenses in this district, the share within the range was 69%. For firearms cases in all districts it was 52%.

## Prison Terms and Probation

718 of the 741 people (97%) received a prison term, and 15 (2%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. For all districts, 94% were sent to prison.

The median prison term was 46 months. A quarter received 76.8 months or more, and a quarter received 24 months or less. The median for all districts was 42 months, and the median for every offense type in this district was 48 months.

## The Statute Behind Most Cases

"Firearms" is the Commission's offense type. The primary guideline was §2K2.1 (Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Firearms or Ammunition) for 695 people. §2K1.3 (Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Explosive Materials) applied to 1.

Firearms cases were 22% of the 3,361 people sentenced in the district in these years.

## Trials and Pleas

719 of the 741 people (97%) pleaded guilty, the same rate as for all districts. 22 were convicted after a trial.

The median prison term was 46 months after a guilty plea and 78 months after a trial. 93% of the guilty pleas had a written plea agreement, and 7% were straight pleas with no agreement.

A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 68 of the 741 people (9%).

## Supervision, Fines, and Criminal History

708 people (96%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. 1 person received supervised release for life.

A fine was ordered for 609 people (82%), and restitution for 34 (5%). On criminal history, 23% were in category I, the lowest, and 11% were in category VI, the highest.

## Counts and Medians by Fiscal Year

Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 have 262 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 have 479\. The most in one year was 116, in 2019\. The fewest was 36, in 2017.

Yearly medians range from 33 months in 2020 to 58.5 months in 2017\. The table reports each year as it was, and the counts here do not by themselves show a trend. A fiscal year runs from October 1 to the end of September.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 39               | 55.5 months   | 95%            |
| 2017        | 36               | 58.5 months   | 100%           |
| 2018        | 71               | 57 months     | 99%            |
| 2019        | 116              | 45 months     | 97%            |
| 2020        | 95               | 33 months     | 94%            |
| 2021        | 76               | 42 months     | 96%            |
| 2022        | 98               | 48 months     | 99%            |
| 2023        | 78               | 51 months     | 97%            |
| 2024        | 54               | 36 months     | 94%            |
| 2025        | 78               | 38 months     | 100%           |

## Scope of the Records

Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. People who were acquitted or whose cases were dismissed are not in the data, and terms are those imposed, not served.

Keesler AFB, Mississippi, appears in this site's court-martial data and is in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal district court.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Mississippi (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Mississippi South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Firearms" (741). 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 Mississippi, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-southern-district-of-mississippi/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-southern-district-of-mississippi/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-southern-district-of-mississippi/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-southern-district-of-mississippi/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Robbery Sentences in the Southern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-robbery-sentences-southern-district-of-mississippi/) (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.