Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of Puerto Rico, FY2016–2025
The District of Puerto Rico sentenced 1,155 people for immigration offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of those, 991 (86%) received prison, with a median prison term of 7.8 months, and 163 (14%) received probation only. A sentence within the guideline range applied to 851 people (74%), and all bu
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the District of Puerto Rico, FY2016–202 › Immigration Offense: District of Puerto Rico
In brief: The District of Puerto Rico sentenced 1,155 people for immigration offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of those, 991 (86%) received prison, with a median prison term of 7.8 months, and 163 (14%) received probation only. A sentence within the guideline range applied to 851 people (74%), and all but 1 person pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 1,155 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.
Short Prison Terms and Some Probation
The U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type is "Immigration." It accounts for 1,155 of the 9,794 people sentenced in this district (12%).
Of the 1,155 people, 991 (86%) were sentenced to prison and 163 (14%) received probation only. The median prison term was 7.8 months. A quarter received 14 months or more, and a quarter received 3 months or less.
For all districts, 95% of 217,838 people were sent to prison, and the median was 7 months. For all offenses in this district, the median was 60 months. These are terms imposed, not time served.
Which Guidelines Applied
The most common primary guideline was §2L1.2 (Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States), used for 831 people. Next was §2L1.1 (Smuggling, Transporting, or Harboring an Unlawful Alien), with 71.
Smaller groups were sentenced under §2L2.2 (Fraudulently Acquiring Documents Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status for Own Use) with 43, and §2L2.1 (Trafficking in a Document Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status, or a United States Passport) with 7.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 11 of the 1,004 people with that information recorded (1%).
Sentences Within the Range
Of the 1,154 people with guideline information, 851 (74%) were sentenced within the range. Below the range without a government request were 156 (14%), below it at the government's request were 122 (11%), and above it were 25 (2%).
For all districts, 62% of immigration cases were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the share was 54%. The share within the range here was higher than both.
Pleas Without Written Agreements
A guilty plea was entered by 1,154 of 1,155 people (more than 99%), and 1 person was convicted after a trial. The records give no separate prison median for the trial.
Of the guilty pleas, 34% had a written agreement and 65% were straight pleas with no agreement.
For all offenses in this district, the plea share was 98%.
Supervised Release and Criminal History
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 892 people (77%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 2 (less than 1%), and restitution for 5 (less than 1%).
On criminal history, 55% were in category I, the lowest, and less than 1% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Counts and Medians by Fiscal Year
The district sentenced 581 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 574 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. A fiscal year runs from October 1 to the end of September.
Yearly counts range from 66 in 2022 to 174 in 2019. Yearly medians range from 5.2 months to 12 months. The table shows every year, and the records do not explain the differences.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 123 | 5.8 months | 100% |
| 2017 | 171 | 7.8 months | 100% |
| 2018 | 113 | 10.2 months | 100% |
| 2019 | 174 | 8 months | 100% |
| 2020 | 159 | 5.2 months | more than 99% |
| 2021 | 72 | 11.1 months | 100% |
| 2022 | 66 | 12 months | 100% |
| 2023 | 104 | 10 months | 100% |
| 2024 | 71 | 7 months | 100% |
| 2025 | 102 | 6 months | 100% |
What These Figures Cannot Show
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. People whose cases were dismissed or who were acquitted are not in the data, and the circumstances of each case are not described.
Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal district court. These numbers describe federal cases only.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of Puerto Rico (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Puerto Rico") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Immigration" (1,155). 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 District of Puerto Rico, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of Puerto Rico, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of Puerto Rico, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of Puerto Rico, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Robbery Sentences in the District of Puerto Rico, 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.