Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Western District of Arkansas, FY2016–2025
Of the 159 people sentenced for immigration offenses in the Western District of Arkansas in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 154 (97%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 10 months, which is higher than the 7 months for all 94 federal districts. All 159 pleaded guilty.
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In brief: Of the 159 people sentenced for immigration offenses in the Western District of Arkansas in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 154 (97%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 10 months, which is higher than the 7 months for all 94 federal districts. All 159 pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 159 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.
Prison Terms for Immigration Offenses in This District
The U.S. Sentencing Commission placed 159 people in its "Immigration" offense type in this district. 154 (97%) were sentenced to prison, and 4 (3%) received probation only.
The median prison term was 10 months. A quarter received 18 months or more, and a quarter received 5 months or less. The terms are those imposed by the court, not time served.
Across all districts, 95% of people in this offense type went to prison, and the median was 7 months.
Every Case Ended in a Guilty Plea
All 159 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none was convicted after a trial. The all-district rate was more than 99%.
Among the guilty pleas, 98% had a written plea agreement and 2% were straight pleas with no agreement.
No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 159 people with that information recorded.
Sentences Against the Guideline Range
Within-range sentences were 73% of the total in this district (116 people). For all districts, the figure was 62%, so within-range sentences were more common here.
Below-range sentences without a government request were 18% (28 people). Below-range sentences at the government's request were 4% (6 people). Sentences above the range were 6% (9 people).
Across all offenses in the district, 43% of sentences were within the range.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
Only 7 people (4%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, and their median term was 36 months. A fine was ordered for 7 people (4%). No one was ordered to pay restitution.
In criminal history, 34% were in the lowest category, category I, and 3% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Which Guidelines Applied
The most common primary guideline was §2L1.2 (Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States), with 135 people. Next were §2L2.2 (Fraudulently Acquiring Documents Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status for Own Use), with 13 people, and §2L1.1 (Smuggling, Transporting, or Harboring an Unlawful Alien), with 10 people.
One person had §2L2.1 (Trafficking in a Document Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status, or a United States Passport) as the primary guideline.
Immigration cases were 7% of the 2,185 people sentenced in the district in these years. The median prison term for all offenses in the district was 72 months, which is much higher than for this offense type.
Fewer Cases in Recent Fiscal Years
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 99 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 60 people. The fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30.
The yearly table shows 41 people in 2019 and 1 person in 2023. In the later years, the counts are 8 or fewer, so the medians for those years rest on very few people and should not be treated as a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 17 | 13.5 months | 100% |
| 2017 | 18 | 11 months | 100% |
| 2018 | 23 | 12 months | 100% |
| 2019 | 41 | 5 months | 100% |
| 2020 | 29 | 9.2 months | 100% |
| 2021 | 15 | 15 months | 100% |
| 2022 | 8 | 30 months | 8 of 8 |
| 2023 | 1 | 8 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2024 | 3 | 28 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2025 | 4 | 12 months | 4 of 4 |
Limits of These Numbers
The Commission data includes only people who were convicted and sentenced. Dismissed cases and acquittals are not counted.
The records do not show what conduct led to each sentence or why the counts changed. This post covers federal court only and does not compare these numbers with military cases.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Western District of Arkansas (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Arkansas West") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Immigration" (159). 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 Western District of Arkansas, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Western District of Arkansas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Western District of Arkansas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Western District of Arkansas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Child Pornography Sentences in the Western District of Arkansas, 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.