> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Middle District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-middle-district-of-north-carolina/ - Published: 2026-11-04T11:01:59.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T11:01:59.000Z - Description: In the Middle District of North Carolina, the median prison term for the 241 people sentenced for immigration offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 was 16 months. For immigration cases in all 94 districts, the median was 7 months. Of the 241 people, 224 (93%) received a prison term. - 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 Middle District of North Carolina, ](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-middle-district-of-north-carolina/) › Immigration Offense: Middle District of North Carolina **In brief:** In the Middle District of North Carolina, the median prison term for the 241 people sentenced for immigration offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 was 16 months. For immigration cases in all 94 districts, the median was 7 months. Of the 241 people, 224 (93%) received a prison term. 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 241 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/). ## A Longer Median Than the National Figure Among the 224 people sent to prison, the median prison term was 16 months. A quarter received 27 months or more, and a quarter received 8 months or less. For immigration cases in all 94 districts, 95% of people were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 7 months. The figure here is higher. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served. In this district, 16 people (7%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. ## Sentences Within the Guideline Range The guideline range is the sentencing range calculated under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. In this district, 197 of the 241 sentences (82%) were within the range. For all 94 districts, the share within the range was 62%. Above the range were 23 sentences (10%). Below the range without a government request were 17 (7%), and below the range at the government's request were 4 (2%). For all offenses in this district, 53% of sentences were within the range, so immigration cases were within the range more often than the district's cases overall. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 32 | 16 months | 100% | | 2017 | 36 | 13 months | 100% | | 2018 | 40 | 24 months | 100% | | 2019 | 39 | 11 months | 100% | | 2020 | 32 | 19.5 months | 100% | | 2021 | 14 | 12.5 months | 100% | | 2022 | 19 | 24 months | 95% | | 2023 | 8 | 36 months | 8 of 8 | | 2024 | 10 | 21 months | 100% | | 2025 | 11 | 12 months | 100% | ## Which Guidelines Were Used "Immigration" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type. It is assigned from the primary guideline used for sentencing. The most common was §2L1.2 (Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States), with 215 people. Next were §2L2.2 (Fraudulently Acquiring Documents Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status for Own Use) with 23, and §2L2.1 (Trafficking in a Document Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status, or a United States Passport) with 2. ## Guilty Pleas and the Single Trial Of the 241 people, 240 (more than 99%) pleaded guilty. Only 1 was convicted after a trial, and that person received 4 months. The median after a guilty plea was 16 months. One trial case cannot be compared with the plea cases. Among the guilty pleas, 89% had a written plea agreement and 11% were straight pleas with no agreement. ## Smaller Caseload in Recent Years The district sentenced 147 people for immigration offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 94 people in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. The yearly table shows 8 people in 2023 and 11 in 2025. With yearly counts that small, the medians can change a lot from one year to the next, and the records do not show why the counts fell. Immigration cases were 6% of the 3,816 people sentenced in the district over the full period. ## Other Orders Supervised release after prison was ordered for 216 people (90%), with a median term of 24 months. A fine was ordered for 16 people (7%), and restitution for 0. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 241 people (less than 1%). In criminal history, 15% were in category I and 3% were in category VI. ## What the Records Cannot Show The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. It has no acquittals or dismissals, and it does not show what happened to people whose cases were handled outside federal criminal court. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Middle District of North Carolina (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "N Carolina Mid") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Immigration" (241). 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 Middle District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-middle-district-of-north-carolina/) (overview) - [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Middle District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-middle-district-of-north-carolina/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Middle District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-middle-district-of-north-carolina/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Robbery Sentences in the Middle District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-robbery-sentences-middle-district-of-north-carolina/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Middle District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-middle-district-of-north-carolina/) (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.