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# Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of Hawaii, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-district-of-hawaii/
- Published: 2026-11-04T11:17:36.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T11:17:36.000Z
- Description: In the District of Hawaii, 53 people were sentenced for immigration offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 45 (85%) received a prison term, and the median was 3.9 months. For all 94 districts, the median was 7 months.
- 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 District of Hawaii, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-district-of-hawaii/) › Immigration Offense: District of Hawaii

**In brief:** In the District of Hawaii, 53 people were sentenced for immigration offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. 45 (85%) received a prison term, and the median was 3.9 months. For all 94 districts, the median was 7 months.

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 53 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/).

## Short Prison Terms and Straight Guilty Pleas

Among the 45 people sent to prison, the median prison term was 3.9 months. A quarter received 8 months or more, and a quarter received 0.1 months or less. 6 people (11%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.

For all 94 federal districts together, the immigration offense type had 217,838 people, 95% sent to prison, and a median prison term of 7 months. The median in this district was lower, and the share sent to prison was lower. For all offenses in the District of Hawaii, the median was 53 months.

## Which Immigration Guidelines Applied

"Immigration" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type. These cases were 4% of the 1,377 people sentenced in the district.

The most common primary guidelines were §2L1.2 (Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States) with 26 people and §2L2.2 (Fraudulently Acquiring Documents Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status for Own Use) with 25\. §2L2.1 (Trafficking in a Document Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status, or a United States Passport) had 2.

## Plea Agreements

51 of 53 (96%) pleaded guilty, and 2 were convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 49% had a written plea agreement and 51% were straight pleas with no agreement.

The straight plea share of 51% is a little higher than the share with a written plea agreement.

The median prison term was 3.8 months after a guilty plea and 34 months after a trial. The trial figure rests on 2 people.

## The Guideline Range

92% of sentences (49 people) were within the guideline range. 6% (3) were below the range at the government's request, none were below it without a government request, and 2% (1) were above it.

Within the range was 62% for all 94 districts in this offense type and 37% for all offenses in this district. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 3 of the 53 people with that information recorded (6%).

## Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History

34 people (64%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 18 months. A fine was ordered for 12 (23%), and restitution for 2 (4%).

75% were in the lowest criminal history category, and 2% were in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

## Fiscal Year Counts

Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 28 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 25 people. The yearly counts range from 1 to 10 people. Fiscal year 2022 lists the median as n/a, and fiscal year 2024 shows a median of 34 months for 2 people.

These counts are too small to show a trend.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 10               | 0.1 months    | 100%           |
| 2017        | 3                | 2.5 months    | 3 of 3         |
| 2018        | 8                | 0 months      | 8 of 8         |
| 2019        | 7                | 3.9 months    | 7 of 7         |
| 2020        | 8                | 4.8 months    | 8 of 8         |
| 2021        | 3                | 5 months      | 3 of 3         |
| 2022        | 1                | n/a           | 1 of 1         |
| 2023        | 3                | 9.5 months    | 3 of 3         |
| 2024        | 2                | 34 months     | 0 of 2         |
| 2025        | 8                | 3.3 months    | 8 of 8         |

## Federal Court, Military Installations, and Limits

Military installations in this district that appear in this site's court-martial data are Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay, and Wheeler Army Airfield. This federal court does not try courts-martial.

Acquitted and dismissed cases are outside this data. Prison terms are imposed terms. The records do not explain any individual sentence.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of Hawaii (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Hawaii") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Immigration" (53). 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 District of Hawaii, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-district-of-hawaii/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of Hawaii, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-district-of-hawaii/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of Hawaii, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-district-of-hawaii/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of Hawaii, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-district-of-hawaii/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Robbery Sentences in the District of Hawaii, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-robbery-sentences-district-of-hawaii/) (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.