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# Federal Food and Drug Offense Sentences in the Northern District of Ohio, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-food-and-drug-sentences-northern-district-of-ohio/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:35:34.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:35:34.000Z
- Description: All 11 people sentenced for food and drug offenses in the Northern District of Ohio in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. Across all 94 federal districts, 32% of people in this offense type were sent to prison. Every one of the 11 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 Ohio, FY2016–2](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-northern-district-of-ohio/) › Food and Drug Offense: Northern District of Ohio

**In brief:** All 11 people sentenced for food and drug offenses in the Northern District of Ohio in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. Across all 94 federal districts, 32% of people in this offense type were sent to prison. Every one of the 11 pleaded guilty, and every sentence was within the guideline 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 11 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/).

## No Prison Terms in This District

Of the 11 people, 0 (0%) received a prison term and 11 (100%) received probation only. Because no one in the group went to prison, the records have no median prison term for this district, and every row of the yearly table shows n/a.

Across all 94 districts, this offense type covers 451 people. In those districts, 32% were sent to prison, and the median prison term among them was 17.3 months. The district's result is different from that national group.

The prison terms in this data, where they exist, are terms imposed and not time served.

## Sentences Within the Guideline Range

The guideline range is the sentencing range calculated under the Commission's guidelines. All 11 sentences (100%) were within it. None were below the range, and none were above it.

Across all 94 districts, 68% of sentences for this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in the Northern District of Ohio, the figure was 43%. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 11 people.

## What the Offense Type Covers

The offense type "Food and Drug" is a Commission category. In this district, 7 of the 11 cases were under §2N2.1 (Violations of Statutes and Regulations Dealing With Any Food, Drug, Biological Product, Device, Cosmetic, or Agricultural Product).

Food and drug cases made up less than 1% of the 7,866 people sentenced in the district in these years.

## Pleas, Fines, and Criminal History

All 11 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none were convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 91% had a written plea agreement and 9% were straight pleas with no agreement.

A fine was ordered for 7 people (64%). Restitution was ordered for 0\. In the Commission's data, 100% were in the lowest criminal history category I, and 0% were in the highest, VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

## Cases by Fiscal Year

Fiscal year 2016 had 4 people, the most of any year. Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 7 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 4\. Cases appear in only some of the 10 fiscal years.

Each yearly count is too small to show a trend. Fiscal years begin October 1 and end in September.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 4                | n/a           | 4 of 4         |
| 2018        | 1                | n/a           | 1 of 1         |
| 2019        | 2                | n/a           | 2 of 2         |
| 2021        | 2                | n/a           | 2 of 2         |
| 2022        | 1                | n/a           | 1 of 1         |
| 2025        | 1                | n/a           | 1 of 1         |

## What the Records Cannot Show

Only people who were convicted and sentenced appear in this data. A case that ended in an acquittal or a dismissal is not counted, so the records do not show how many cases ended another way.

Nothing in the records describes the conduct behind any case. For that reason they cannot explain the difference between this district and the national group.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of Ohio (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Ohio North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Food and Drug" (11). 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 Northern District of Ohio, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-northern-district-of-ohio/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of Ohio, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-northern-district-of-ohio/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of Ohio, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-northern-district-of-ohio/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of Ohio, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-northern-district-of-ohio/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Northern District of Ohio, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-northern-district-of-ohio/) (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.