> ## 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 Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-middle-district-of-pennsylvania/ - Published: 2026-11-04T11:00:57.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T11:00:57.000Z - Description: The median prison term for immigration offenses in the Middle District of Pennsylvania was 0 months. The U.S. Sentencing Commission recorded 507 people in this offense type in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 495 (98%) received a prison term. Across 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 Middle District of Pennsylvania, FY](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-middle-district-of-pennsylvania/) › Immigration Offense: Middle District of Pennsylvania **In brief:** The median prison term for immigration offenses in the Middle District of Pennsylvania was 0 months. The U.S. Sentencing Commission recorded 507 people in this offense type in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 495 (98%) received a prison term. Across 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 507 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 Median of 0 Months Among the 495 people sent to prison, the median prison term was 0 months. A quarter received 6.3 months or more, and a quarter received 0 months or less. The records do not explain the 0-month terms. The figures are terms imposed, not time served. Across all districts, 217,838 people were in this offense type, 95% were sent to prison, and the median was 7 months. For all offenses in this district, the median was 46 months. ## Yearly Medians The table shows medians of 0 months in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, and 2023\. The highest yearly median is 10 months in 2024, a year with 21 people. The year 2021 also has 21 people. The largest year is 2018, with 106 people. Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 account for 285 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 account for 222. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 37 | 6.3 months | 100% | | 2017 | 45 | 3.3 months | 100% | | 2018 | 106 | 0 months | 100% | | 2019 | 97 | 0 months | 99% | | 2020 | 71 | 0 months | 100% | | 2021 | 21 | 1.2 months | 100% | | 2022 | 34 | 0 months | 100% | | 2023 | 34 | 0 months | 97% | | 2024 | 21 | 10 months | 90% | | 2025 | 41 | 2.5 months | 100% | ## Almost Everyone Pleaded Guilty, Often Without an Agreement 503 of 507 people (more than 99%) pleaded guilty, and 4 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 0 months. After a trial it was 18.6 months, based on 4 people. Among the guilty pleas, 22% had a written plea agreement and 58% were straight pleas with no agreement. The records provided do not break out the remaining pleas. ## Guidelines in This Offense Type "Immigration" is the Commission's offense type, grouped by the primary sentencing guideline. §2L1.2 (Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States) was the primary guideline for 203 people. §2L1.1 (Smuggling, Transporting, or Harboring an Unlawful Alien) was listed for 14. The document-related guidelines were also listed: §2L2.2, with 6 people, and §2L2.1, with 4\. Immigration cases were 12% of the 4,067 people sentenced in the district. ## Guideline Range and Mandatory Minimums Sentences within the guideline range were 82% of the 506 cases with the information (413 people). Below the range at the government's request were 8% (43 people), and below the range without a government request were 10% (49 people). One person was above the range, less than 1%. Across all districts, 62% were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the figure was 47%. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 4 of the 271 people with that information recorded (1%). ## Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History Supervised release followed prison for 284 people (56%), with a median term of 12 months. A fine was ordered for 12 people (2%). Restitution was ordered for no one (0%). In criminal history, 58% were in the lowest category I and less than 1% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. ## Limits of the Records Only people who were convicted and sentenced are included. Acquittals, dismissals, and cases handled outside the criminal courts are not counted. The records do not describe any person's circumstances. Percentages in this post describe groups of sentences, not the facts of cases. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Middle District of Pennsylvania (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Penn. Mid") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Immigration" (507). 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 Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-middle-district-of-pennsylvania/) (overview) - [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-middle-district-of-pennsylvania/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-middle-district-of-pennsylvania/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-middle-district-of-pennsylvania/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Prison Offense Sentences in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-prison-offenses-sentences-middle-district-of-pennsylvania/) (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.