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# Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Northern District of California, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-northern-district-of-california/
- Published: 2026-11-04T11:07:48.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T11:07:48.000Z
- Description: In the Northern District of California, the number of people sentenced for immigration offenses was 164 in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 74 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. The total was 238. The median prison term was 15 months, compared with 7 months for this offense type in all 94 districts.
- 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 Northern District of California, FY](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-northern-district-of-california/) › Immigration Offense: Northern District of California

**In brief:** In the Northern District of California, the number of people sentenced for immigration offenses was 164 in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 74 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. The total was 238\. The median prison term was 15 months, compared with 7 months for this offense type in all 94 districts.

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 238 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/).

## Counts Before and After Fiscal Year 2019

The U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type "Immigration" covers 238 people in this district over fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 164 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 74 people. The yearly count was 55 in 2016 and 2 in 2024, then 15 in 2025.

The records do not say why the counts changed. These cases were 5% of the 4,531 people sentenced in the district. A fiscal year runs from October 1 through the end of September.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 55               | 22.5 months   | 98%            |
| 2017        | 43               | 14 months     | 98%            |
| 2018        | 35               | 12.5 months   | 97%            |
| 2019        | 31               | 10 months     | 100%           |
| 2020        | 33               | 15.8 months   | 91%            |
| 2021        | 12               | 20 months     | 92%            |
| 2022        | 9                | 15 months     | 9 of 9         |
| 2023        | 3                | 24 months     | 3 of 3         |
| 2024        | 2                | 0 months      | 2 of 2         |
| 2025        | 15               | 17 months     | 100%           |

## Prison Terms Compared With All Districts

A total of 204 of the 238 (86%) received a prison term, and 26 (11%) received probation only. In all 94 districts, 95% were sent to prison.

The median prison term was 15 months. A quarter received 8 months or less, and a quarter received 24.2 months or more. The median for all offenses in this district was 30 months. Terms shown are those imposed, not time served.

## Guidelines Used

The most common primary guideline was §2L1.2 (Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States), with 119 cases. Next was §2L2.2 (Fraudulently Acquiring Documents Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status for Own Use), with 39\. Then came §2L2.1 (Trafficking in a Document Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status, or a United States Passport), with 19.

## Within the Range or Below It

The guideline range is the range the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines calculate for each case. Of the 237 people with this information, 49% (116) were sentenced within the range. In all districts, 62% were within the range, and for all offenses in this district the share was 24%.

A below-range sentence at the government's request applied to 26% (62), and one without a government request applied to 25% (59). No one was above the range.

## Guilty Pleas

A total of 231 of 238 (97%) pleaded guilty, and 7 were convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 83% had a written plea agreement, and 16% were straight pleas with no agreement.

The median prison term after a guilty plea was 14 months. After a trial it was 24 months, based on only 7 people. A mandatory minimum applied to 3 of the 236 people with that information (1%).

## Supervision, Fines, and Criminal History

Supervised release after prison was ordered for 142 (60%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 13 (5%), and restitution for 3 (1%).

In this group, 23% were in the lowest criminal history category, and 8% were in the highest. The court-martial data has no criminal history field.

## Limits of the Data

Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted here. Cases that ended in acquittal or dismissal are not in the data. Years with very few cases, such as 2023 and 2024, give medians that rest on 3 and 2 people.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of California (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "California North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Immigration" (238). 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 Northern District of California, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-northern-district-of-california/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of California, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-northern-district-of-california/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of California, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-northern-district-of-california/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of California, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-northern-district-of-california/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Child Pornography Sentences in the Northern District of California, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-child-pornography-sentences-northern-district-of-california/) (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.