Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025
The median prison term for immigration offenses in the Eastern District of North Carolina was 11 months, based on 555 of the 587 people sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Across all 94 federal districts, the median for this offense type was 7 months. In this district, 85% of sentences were with
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In brief: The median prison term for immigration offenses in the Eastern District of North Carolina was 11 months, based on 555 of the 587 people sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Across all 94 federal districts, the median for this offense type was 7 months. In this district, 85% of sentences were within the guideline range.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 587 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.
Prison Terms and Probation
Of the 587 people, 555 (95%) received a prison term, and 29 (5%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. A quarter of those sent to prison received 20 months or more, and a quarter received 6 months or less.
The same offense type across all 94 districts covers 217,838 people. In those districts, 95% were sent to prison. Immigration cases were 8% of the 7,801 people sentenced in this district.
Terms are the terms imposed, not time served. The median for all offenses in this district was 60 months.
Sentences Within the Guideline Range
The records list the range position for 585 people. Sentences were within the guideline range for 85% (497), compared with 62% across all 94 districts and 56% for all offenses in this district.
Below the range without a government request was 9% (54), above the range was 4% (22), and below it at the government's request was 2% (12).
Pleas and Trials
Guilty pleas were 99% of the cases (579), and 8 people were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 11 months after a guilty plea. After a trial it was also 11 months, based on 7 people.
A written plea agreement covered 21% of guilty pleas, and 79% were straight pleas with no agreement. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 14 of the 579 people with that information recorded (2%).
The Guidelines Behind These Cases
"Immigration" is the Commission's offense type, assigned by the primary guideline. The largest group was §2L1.2 (Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States), with 478 people.
Next were §2L2.2 (Fraudulently Acquiring Documents Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status for Own Use) with 74, §2L2.1 (Trafficking in a Document Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status, or a United States Passport) with 18, and §2L1.1 (Smuggling, Transporting, or Harboring an Unlawful Alien) with 4.
Supervision, Fines, and Criminal History
Supervised release followed prison for 496 people (84%), with a median term of 12 months. A fine was ordered for 20 people (3%) and restitution for 6 (1%).
In the Commission's data, 30% were in the lowest criminal history category and 3% in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Changes Across Fiscal Years
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 301 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 286. The yearly count was highest in fiscal year 2018, with 113 people, and lowest in fiscal year 2023, with 27.
The yearly median prison term runs from 6 months to 18 months. The records cannot show why the counts or medians change. A fiscal year begins October 1.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 38 | 16 months | 97% |
| 2017 | 44 | 12 months | 98% |
| 2018 | 113 | 8 months | 100% |
| 2019 | 106 | 7.1 months | more than 99% |
| 2020 | 77 | 12 months | 97% |
| 2021 | 65 | 12 months | 100% |
| 2022 | 49 | 12 months | 94% |
| 2023 | 27 | 15.1 months | 100% |
| 2024 | 30 | 18 months | 100% |
| 2025 | 38 | 6 months | 100% |
Installations and Limits
Camp Lejeune, Fort Bragg, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, and Seymour Johnson AFB are in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal court.
Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, which counts only people who were convicted and sentenced.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of North Carolina (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "N Carolina East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Immigration" (587). 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 Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, 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.