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# Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-eastern-district-of-virginia/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:33:27.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:33:27.000Z
- Description: 1,090 people were sentenced for the Commission's offense type "Immigration" in the Eastern District of Virginia in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 98% received a prison term, and the median was 3.7 months. For this offense type in all 94 federal districts, the median prison term was 7 months. In this dis
- 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 Eastern District of Virginia, FY201](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-virginia/) › Immigration Offense: Eastern District of Virginia

**In brief:** 1,090 people were sentenced for the Commission's offense type "Immigration" in the Eastern District of Virginia in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. 98% received a prison term, and the median was 3.7 months. For this offense type in all 94 federal districts, the median prison term was 7 months. In this district, 76% of sentences were 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 1,090 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 for Nearly Everyone Sentenced

1,068 of the 1,090 people (98%) received a prison term, and 11 (1%) received probation only. The median prison term was 3.7 months. A quarter received 9.1 months or more, and a quarter received 0 months or less.

Across all districts, 217,838 people were sentenced for this offense type, 95% were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 7 months. The median in this district is lower. For all offenses in this district, the median was 46 months. Terms are those imposed, not time served.

## Most Sentences Were Within the Range

The court calculates a guideline range for each case. 820 sentences (76%) were within it. 31 (3%) were below the range at the government's request, and 206 (19%) were below it without a government request. 26 (2%) were above it.

For this offense type in all districts, 62% of sentences were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the share was 60%.

A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 5 of the 646 people with that information recorded (less than 1%).

## Guidelines Used

The offense type is the Commission's category. §2L1.2 (Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States) was the primary guideline for 451 people.

§2L2.2 (Fraudulently Acquiring Documents Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status for Own Use) applied to 57 people. §2L2.1 (Trafficking in a Document Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status, or a United States Passport) applied to 25\. §2L1.1 (Smuggling, Transporting, or Harboring an Unlawful Alien) applied to 7\. These cases were 10% of the 10,381 people sentenced in the district.

## Guilty Pleas Without Written Agreements

1,069 people (98%) pleaded guilty, and 21 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 3.3 months after a guilty plea and 12 months after a trial, based on 21 people.

Plea agreements were less common here than in many offense types. Among the guilty pleas, 24% had a written plea agreement, and 75% were straight pleas with no agreement.

## Counts by Fiscal Year

586 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019, and 504 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. A fiscal year begins October 1 and ends the next September.

Fiscal year 2019 had the most people, with 225, and fiscal year 2024 the fewest, with 58\. Yearly medians range from 2 months to 6 months. The records cannot show what accounts for the differences.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 95               | 4 months      | 97%            |
| 2017        | 91               | 6 months      | 97%            |
| 2018        | 175              | 2 months      | 99%            |
| 2019        | 225              | 3 months      | 98%            |
| 2020        | 110              | 2.1 months    | 97%            |
| 2021        | 77               | 2.5 months    | 100%           |
| 2022        | 90               | 6 months      | 98%            |
| 2023        | 66               | 6 months      | 97%            |
| 2024        | 58               | 6 months      | 98%            |
| 2025        | 103              | 3 months      | more than 99%  |

## Supervised Release, Criminal History, and Limits

776 people (71%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 12 months. A fine was ordered for 14 (1%), and restitution for 4 (less than 1%).

Criminal history category I, the lowest, applied to 42% of the people, and category VI, the highest, applied to less than 1%. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

Fort Lee, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Marine Corps Base Quantico, and Norfolk, in Virginia, are in this district. Courts-martial are not tried in this federal court. The federal data leaves out people who were acquitted or whose cases were dismissed.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Virginia East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Immigration" (1,090). 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 Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-virginia/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-eastern-district-of-virginia/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-other-sentences-eastern-district-of-virginia/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-eastern-district-of-virginia/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-eastern-district-of-virginia/) (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.