Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025
Of 223 people sentenced for immigration offenses in the Southern District of Georgia in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 96% (214) received a sentence within the guideline range, compared with 62% across all 94 federal districts. 219 of the 223 (98%) received a prison term, with a median of 4.3 months.
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In brief: Of 223 people sentenced for immigration offenses in the Southern District of Georgia in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 96% (214) received a sentence within the guideline range, compared with 62% across all 94 federal districts. 219 of the 223 (98%) received a prison term, with a median of 4.3 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 223 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.
Nearly All Sentences Were Within the Guideline Range
The guideline range was recorded for all 223 people. 96% (214) were sentenced within it. 2% (5) were below the range at the government's request, and 1% (3) were below it without a government request. Less than 1% (1) were above the range.
Nationally, 62% of immigration sentences were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the share was 71%. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 222 people with that information recorded.
Short Prison Terms for Nearly Everyone
The court imposed prison on 219 of the 223 people (98%). 4 (2%) received probation only. The median prison term was 4.3 months.
The top quarter received 7 months or more, and the bottom quarter received 2.5 months or less. Nationally, 95% were sent to prison and the national median was 7 months. The district's median for all offenses was 48 months. The terms here are the terms imposed, not time served.
Which Guidelines Applied
"Immigration" is the Commission's label for a group of offenses. §2L1.2 (Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States) was the primary guideline for 186 people. §2L1.1 (Smuggling, Transporting, or Harboring an Unlawful Alien) applied to 3.
Immigration cases were 5% of the 4,115 people sentenced in the district. Across all 94 districts, 217,838 people were sentenced in this offense type.
Pleas and Plea Agreements
222 of the 223 people (more than 99%) pleaded guilty, and 1 was convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 4.2 months after a guilty plea. The one person convicted at trial and sent to prison has a listed term of 11.9 months, which cannot be compared with a group.
Written plea agreements covered 93% of the guilty pleas, and 7% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History
50 people (22%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 12 months. A fine was ordered for 5 (2%), and restitution for 2 (less than 1%).
In criminal history, 59% were in category I, the lowest, and 0% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Counts by Fiscal Year
The district sentenced 143 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 80 people in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. The yearly count was 72 in fiscal year 2018 and 4 in each of fiscal years 2024 and 2025. The records cannot show why the counts changed.
Medians in years with larger counts, from fiscal year 2017 to fiscal year 2020, were between 2.8 months and 4.8 months. Years with 2 to 12 people had medians from 1 months to 61.8 months, and those medians rest on very few cases. A fiscal year starts on October 1.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2 | 61.8 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2017 | 12 | 3.9 months | 100% |
| 2018 | 72 | 4.8 months | 100% |
| 2019 | 57 | 4 months | 100% |
| 2020 | 36 | 2.8 months | 97% |
| 2021 | 18 | 1 months | 100% |
| 2022 | 11 | 18 months | 100% |
| 2023 | 7 | 12 months | 7 of 7 |
| 2024 | 4 | 4.6 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2025 | 4 | 12.4 months | 4 of 4 |
What the Records Do Not Show
Only convictions with a sentence enter the Commission's data, so acquittals and dismissals cannot be seen here. Nothing in these records describes the facts of a case. Fort Gordon and Fort Stewart are in this district, and military courts, not this federal court, try courts-martial.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Georgia (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Georgia South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Immigration" (223). 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.
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 Georgia, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of Georgia, 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.