Federal Firearms Sentences in the Western District of Washington, FY2016–2025
The median prison term for firearms offenses in the Western District of Washington was 30 months (2.5 years). 350 of the 370 people (95%) sentenced under this offense type in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 went to prison. The median for all 94 districts was 42 months.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Western District of Washington, FY2 › Firearms: Western District of Washington
In brief: The median prison term for firearms offenses in the Western District of Washington was 30 months (2.5 years). 350 of the 370 people (95%) sentenced under this offense type in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 went to prison. The median for all 94 districts was 42 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 370 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.
A Median Prison Term of 30 Months
Firearms is one of the Sentencing Commission's offense types. In this district it has 370 people. 350 (95%) were sentenced to prison, and 19 (5%) to probation only.
The median is the middle value of all the prison terms. A quarter received 48 months or more, and a quarter received 18 months or less. These are terms imposed, not time served.
Lower Median Than the National Figure
For this offense type, the national total is 78,851 people, of whom 94% went to prison. The national median was 42 months, which is higher than the 30 months here. The share who went to prison is about the same.
For every offense type together, this district's median prison term was also 30 months. Firearms cases were 9% of the 3,992 people sentenced here.
Where Sentences Fell Against the Guideline Range
Only 111 people (30%) were within the guideline range. 136 (37%) were below it at the government's request. 107 (29%) were below it with no such request. 16 (4%) were above it.
Nationally, 52% were within the range. For the district's cases of every type, the figure is 35%. Mandatory minimums applied to 22 people (6%), a small share.
Guilty Pleas Compared With Trials
354 people (96%) pleaded guilty, and 16 were convicted at trial. Almost all pleas, 99%, were made under a written plea agreement.
The median prison term was 30 months after a plea and 57 months after a trial. The trial median covers 14 people. Charges and criminal history differ between the groups, so the gap says little about why the terms differ.
Primary Guidelines
Most cases, 342 people, were sentenced under §2K2.1 (Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Firearms or Ammunition). Explosives guidelines covered 5 people each: §2K1.1 (Failure to Report Theft of Explosive Materials) and §2K1.3 (Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Explosive Materials).
The last group was 2 people under §2K2.5 (Possession of Firearm or Dangerous Weapon in Federal Facility).
Supervision, Money Orders, and Criminal History
After prison, 342 people (92%) were placed on supervised release, with a median term of 36 months. Fines were ordered for 8 (2%) and restitution for 17 (5%).
The share in the lowest criminal history category was 16%, and the share in the highest was 25%. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Counts by Year
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 217 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 153. Yearly counts run from 21 to 67, and yearly medians from 12 to 36.5 months. The records give no reason for these differences.
Bremerton, Washington and Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington are in this district. Courts-martial are heard in military courts. People who were acquitted, or whose cases were dismissed, are not in the federal data.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 60 | 36.5 months | 93% |
| 2017 | 67 | 34.5 months | 93% |
| 2018 | 54 | 24 months | 96% |
| 2019 | 36 | 29 months | 94% |
| 2020 | 21 | 30 months | 100% |
| 2021 | 36 | 26 months | 97% |
| 2022 | 22 | 12 months | 100% |
| 2023 | 26 | 24 months | 100% |
| 2024 | 22 | 30 months | 91% |
| 2025 | 26 | 24 months | 100% |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Western District of Washington (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Washington West") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Firearms" (370). 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 Western District of Washington, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Western District of Washington, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Western District of Washington, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Western District of Washington, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Western District of Washington, 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.