Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Western District of Wisconsin, FY2016–2025
126 people were sentenced for immigration offenses in the Western District of Wisconsin in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Every one received a prison term, and the median was 8 months, compared with 7 months for all 94 districts. All 126 pleaded guilty.
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In brief: 126 people were sentenced for immigration offenses in the Western District of Wisconsin in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Every one received a prison term, and the median was 8 months, compared with 7 months for all 94 districts. All 126 pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 126 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 Everyone Sentenced
All 126 people (100%) received a prison term, and none received probation only. The median prison term was 8 months. A quarter received 15 months or more, and a quarter received 5 months or less.
For "Immigration" in all 94 districts, the median was 7 months, and 95% of people were sent to prison. For all offenses in the Western District of Wisconsin, the median was 59.5 months. These are the terms imposed, not time served.
Almost Every Case Used One Guideline
The U.S. Sentencing Commission assigns an offense type from the main guideline used at sentencing. For this district, §2L1.2 (Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States) was the primary guideline for 120 of the 126 people.
The others were sentenced under §2L2.2 for 2 people, §2L1.1 (Smuggling, Transporting, or Harboring an Unlawful Alien) for 2 people, and §2L2.1 for 1 person. These cases were 9% of the 1,403 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
Sentences Within the Guideline Range
The position against the guideline range is recorded for 125 people. 98 of them (78%) were sentenced within the range. 19 (15%) were below the range without a government request, 4 (3%) below it at the government's request, and 4 (3%) above it.
The national share within the range was 62%, and the share for all offenses in this district was 32%. Immigration sentences in this district were within the range more often than both.
No Trials, and Few Other Terms
All 126 people pleaded guilty, and none was convicted after a trial. Nationally, more than 99% pleaded guilty in this offense type, and for all offenses in this district, 97% did. Among the guilty pleas, 97% had a written plea agreement and 3% were straight pleas.
No mandatory minimum prison term was recorded for anyone (0 of 126). Only 4 people (3%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. No fine was ordered, and restitution was ordered for 1 person (less than 1%).
Criminal History
In criminal history, 26% were in the lowest category, Category I, and 2% were in the highest, Category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Counts and Medians by Year
The district sentenced 63 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 63 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. Yearly counts range from 1 person in fiscal year 2022 to 24 in fiscal years 2019 and 2020.
The yearly median is 18 months in fiscal year 2016 and between 5.7 months and 12 months in the other years. The table lists every year, and it does not establish a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 8 | 18 months | 8 of 8 |
| 2017 | 9 | 8 months | 9 of 9 |
| 2018 | 22 | 6.3 months | 100% |
| 2019 | 24 | 6 months | 100% |
| 2020 | 24 | 7.9 months | 100% |
| 2021 | 7 | 5.7 months | 7 of 7 |
| 2022 | 1 | 6 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2023 | 9 | 10 months | 9 of 9 |
| 2024 | 13 | 12 months | 100% |
| 2025 | 9 | 8.1 months | 9 of 9 |
Limits of the Data
Acquittals and dismissals are not in the Commission's data, which counts only people who were convicted and sentenced.
The records do not say what circumstances lay behind a case, so they cannot explain why a given term was imposed.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Western District of Wisconsin (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Wisconsin West") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Immigration" (126). 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 Wisconsin, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Western District of Wisconsin, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Western District of Wisconsin, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Western District of Wisconsin, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Sexual Abuse Sentences in the Western District of Wisconsin, 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.