> ## 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 Food and Drug Offense Sentences in the Central District of California, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-food-and-drug-sentences-central-district-of-california/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:37:01.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:37:01.000Z - Description: Food and drug offenses in the Central District of California usually ended in probation. Of the 52 people sentenced, 44 (85%) received probation only and 7 (13%) received a prison term. All 52 (100%) pleaded guilty, and 44 (88%) of the 50 people with guideline information were sentenced within the r - 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 Central District of California, FY2](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-central-district-of-california/) › Food and Drug Offense: Central District of California **In brief:** Food and drug offenses in the Central District of California usually ended in probation. Of the 52 people sentenced, 44 (85%) received probation only and 7 (13%) received a prison term. All 52 (100%) pleaded guilty, and 44 (88%) of the 50 people with guideline information were sentenced within the range. 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 52 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/). ## Probation Was the Usual Sentence The U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type "Food and Drug" covers the regulatory offenses sentenced under its food and drug guidelines. The data for this district list 52 people, with the period given as fiscal years 2016 to 2024. Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, was ordered for 44 people (85%). Prison was ordered for 7 (13%). In all 94 districts, 32% of 451 people were sent to prison. This district's share was lower. ## Prison Terms for the 7 People Sentenced to Prison Among the 7 who went to prison, the median prison term was 1 months, as the Commission reports it. A quarter received 24 months or more, and a quarter received 0.5 months or less. The spread is wide for so small a group. The median for all districts was 17.3 months, and the median for all offenses in this district was 37 months. These are terms imposed, not time served. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 52 people with that information recorded. ## Guideline Range Results Of the 50 people with the information, 44 (88%) were sentenced within the range. Below it at the government's request were 4 (8%), 1 (2%) was below it without a government request, and 1 (2%) was above it. In all districts, 68% of these cases were within the range. For all offenses in this district, only 29% were. Food and drug sentences here followed the range more often than the national figure for this offense type. ## Guidelines and Pleas The most common primary guideline was §2N2.1 (Violations of Statutes and Regulations Dealing With Any Food, Drug, Biological Product, Device, Cosmetic, or Agricultural Product), used for 31 people. One person was sentenced under §2N1.1 (Tampering or Attempting to Tamper Involving Risk of Death or Bodily Injury). All 52 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none was convicted after a trial. In all districts, 98% pleaded guilty. Every guilty plea had a written plea agreement. ## Fines, Supervised Release, and Criminal History A fine was ordered for 32 people (62%) and restitution for 15 (29%). Supervised release was ordered for 5 (10%), with a median term of 12 months. On criminal history, 92% of the people were in category I, the lowest, and none were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. ## Counts by Fiscal Year The district sentenced 33 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 19 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. The highest count in one year was 16 in 2016, and the lowest was 1 in 2023\. The fiscal year runs from October 1 to the end of September. Several years show n/a for the median because too few people in that year went to prison. These counts are too small to show a trend. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 16 | 0.5 months | 100% | | 2017 | 3 | 12 months | 3 of 3 | | 2018 | 6 | n/a | 6 of 6 | | 2019 | 8 | n/a | 8 of 8 | | 2020 | 8 | n/a | 8 of 8 | | 2021 | 4 | 1 months | 4 of 4 | | 2022 | 2 | 25.5 months | 2 of 2 | | 2023 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 | | 2024 | 4 | 36 months | 4 of 4 | ## What Cannot Be Seen Here Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, and the product or violation involved is not described. These cases were less than 1% of the 9,958 people sentenced in the district. Fort Irwin, Twentynine Palms, and Vandenberg SFB are 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 Central District of California (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "California Central") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Food and Drug" (52). 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. ## 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 Central District of California, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-central-district-of-california/) (overview) - [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Central District of California, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-central-district-of-california/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Central District of California, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-central-district-of-california/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Central District of California, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-central-district-of-california/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Central District of California, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-central-district-of-california/) (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.