Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Florida, FY2016–2025
The median prison term for immigration offenses in the Southern District of Florida was 2.6 months in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 4,114 people were sentenced, and 97% of them received a prison term. The median for all 94 federal districts in this offense type was 7 months.
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In brief: The median prison term for immigration offenses in the Southern District of Florida was 2.6 months in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 4,114 people were sentenced, and 97% of them received a prison term. The median for all 94 federal districts in this offense type was 7 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 4,114 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.
Short Prison Terms for Most Cases
The U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type "Immigration" includes 4,114 people sentenced in this district. Of these, 3,999 (97%) received a prison term, and 58 (1%) received probation only.
The median prison term among those sent to prison was 2.6 months. A quarter received 12 months or more, and a quarter received 0.8 months or less. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
Across all 94 districts, the Commission counted 217,838 people in this offense type, and the median prison term was 7 months. The district median was lower than the national median.
A Large Share of the District's Cases
Immigration cases were 24% of the 17,081 people sentenced in the district over these fiscal years. For all offenses in the district, the median prison term was 32 months.
The offense type is the Commission's category. The most common primary guideline was §2L1.2 (Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States), with 2,418 people. Another 681 people were sentenced under §2L2.2, 440 under §2L1.1 (Smuggling, Transporting, or Harboring an Unlawful Alien), and 59 under §2L2.1.
Guilty Pleas Without Written Agreements
A total of 4,054 of the 4,114 people (99%) pleaded guilty, and 60 were convicted after a trial. Nationally, guilty pleas were more than 99%.
Among those who pleaded guilty, 26% had a written plea agreement, and 71% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 2.5 months. After a trial it was 18 months, based on 56 people sent to prison.
Position Against the Guideline Range
Of the 3,741 people with guideline information, 3,020 (81%) were sentenced within the range. Below the range at the government's request applied to 131 people (4%), and below the range without a government request to 495 people (13%). 95 people (3%) were above the range.
For all 94 districts, 62% of immigration sentences were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the share was 55%.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 161 of the 3,839 people with that information recorded (4%).
After Prison, Fines, and Criminal History
Supervised release was ordered for 3,856 people (94%), and the median term was 12 months. A fine was ordered for 58 people (1%), and restitution for 18 (less than 1%).
In criminal history, 63% were in the lowest category, category I, and less than 1% were in the highest, VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Changes Across the Fiscal Years
A fiscal year starts on October 1 and ends the following September. The table shows the yearly count falling to 116 people in fiscal year 2021 and rising to 440 people in fiscal year 2025.
The yearly median prison term was 6 months in fiscal years 2021 to 2024 and 4 months in fiscal year 2025. The records cannot show what caused any of these changes.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 534 | 2 months | 98% |
| 2017 | 571 | 2.3 months | 98% |
| 2018 | 653 | 2 months | 98% |
| 2019 | 545 | 1.6 months | 99% |
| 2020 | 312 | 1.6 months | more than 99% |
| 2021 | 116 | 6 months | 100% |
| 2022 | 273 | 6 months | more than 99% |
| 2023 | 332 | 6 months | 99% |
| 2024 | 338 | 6 months | more than 99% |
| 2025 | 440 | 4 months | more than 99% |
Limits of the Records
The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. The data does not describe how any case began or what happened to a person after sentencing.
Courts-martial are tried in military courts and are not part of this federal data.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Florida (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Florida South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Immigration" (4,114). 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 Southern District of Florida, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of Florida, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of Florida, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of Florida, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Money Laundering Sentences in the Southern District of Florida, 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.