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# Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Central District of Illinois, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-central-district-of-illinois/
- Published: 2026-11-04T11:15:45.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T11:15:45.000Z
- Description: In the Central District of Illinois, 94 people were sentenced for immigration offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 93 received a prison term. The median was 10 months, compared with 7 months for immigration offenses across all 94 districts.
- 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 Illinois, FY201](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-central-district-of-illinois/) › Immigration Offense: Central District of Illinois

**In brief:** In the Central District of Illinois, 94 people were sentenced for immigration offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 93 received a prison term. The median was 10 months, compared with 7 months for immigration offenses across all 94 districts.

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 94 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/).

## Plea Agreements Were Uncommon Even Though Pleas Were Not

Of the 94 people, 93 (99%) pleaded guilty, and 1 was convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 17% had a written plea agreement and 77% were straight pleas with no agreement.

The median prison term after a guilty plea was 10 months. The one person convicted at trial received 36 months, which is a single case and not a pattern.

Across all districts, more than 99% of people in this category pleaded guilty.

## Prison Terms

The median prison term was 10 months. A quarter of the people received 20 months or more, and a quarter received 5.5 months or less. One person (1%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.

Across all 94 districts, 217,838 people were sentenced for immigration offenses, 95% were sent to prison, and the median term was 7 months. The district's median was higher than that figure and lower than the 70-month median for all offenses in the district.

A mandatory minimum applied to 3 of the 93 people with that information recorded (3%).

## Guideline Range Positions

Sentences within the guideline range were 67% (63 people). Below the range without a government request were 27% (25 people), and below the range at the government's request were 3% (3). Above the range were also 3% (3).

Across all districts, 62% of immigration sentences were within the range, and for all offenses in the district the figure was 36%. The district's share was higher than both.

## Which Guidelines Applied

"Immigration" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type, assigned from the primary guideline. The most common was §2L1.2 (Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States), with 70 people.

Next was §2L2.2 (Fraudulently Acquiring Documents Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status for Own Use) with 19\. There were 3 under §2L1.1 (Smuggling, Transporting, or Harboring an Unlawful Alien) and 1 under §2L2.1 (Trafficking in a Document Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status, or a United States Passport).

Immigration cases were 4% of the 2,440 people sentenced in the district.

## Earlier Fiscal Years Had More Cases

The federal fiscal year begins on October 1 and ends the following September. In fiscal years 2016 to 2019, 57 people were sentenced, and in fiscal years 2020 to 2025 there were 37.

The table shows counts from 21 people in fiscal years 2017 and 2020 down to 2 in fiscal years 2022 and 2023\. Medians from counts this small, such as 25.1 months in fiscal year 2024, rest on a few cases. The records cannot show why counts or medians changed.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 13               | 10 months     | 100%           |
| 2017        | 21               | 18 months     | 100%           |
| 2018        | 8                | 7.6 months    | 8 of 8         |
| 2019        | 15               | 6 months      | 93%            |
| 2020        | 21               | 7 months      | 100%           |
| 2021        | 4                | 10.4 months   | 4 of 4         |
| 2022        | 2                | 9.2 months    | 2 of 2         |
| 2023        | 2                | 6.9 months    | 2 of 2         |
| 2024        | 4                | 25.1 months   | 4 of 4         |
| 2025        | 4                | 6.5 months    | 4 of 4         |

## Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History

Supervised release after prison was ordered for 37 people (39%), with a median term of 12 months. A fine was ordered for 2 (2%), and restitution for 0 (0%).

In criminal history, 29% were in the lowest category, category I, and 6% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

## What the Records Cannot Show

Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, and prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.

The records do not describe the facts of any case or explain why a sentence was chosen.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Central District of Illinois (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Illinois Cent") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Immigration" (94). 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 Central District of Illinois, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-central-district-of-illinois/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Central District of Illinois, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-central-district-of-illinois/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Central District of Illinois, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-central-district-of-illinois/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Central District of Illinois, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-central-district-of-illinois/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Child Pornography Sentences in the Central District of Illinois, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-child-pornography-sentences-central-district-of-illinois/) (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.