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# Federal Individual Rights Offense Sentences in the Central District of California, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-individual-rights-sentences-central-district-of-california/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:37:03.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:37:03.000Z
- Description: In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 26 people were sentenced for individual rights offenses in the Central District of California. Of those, 19 (73%) received prison, with a median prison term of 24 months. People convicted after a trial had a median of 78 months, compared with 18 months after a guilty pl
- 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 Central District of California, FY2](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-central-district-of-california/) › Individual Rights Offense: Central District of California

**In brief:** In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 26 people were sentenced for individual rights offenses in the Central District of California. Of those, 19 (73%) received prison, with a median prison term of 24 months. People convicted after a trial had a median of 78 months, compared with 18 months after a guilty plea.

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 26 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/).

## Trial and Plea Medians Differ Widely

A guilty plea was entered by 18 of the 26 people (69%), and 8 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 18 months after a guilty plea and 78 months after a trial, based on 8 people who were sent to prison.

The records do not show how the trial and plea cases differed in other ways. The medians show a gap between groups of cases, and they do not show the effect of a trial.

In all 94 districts, 80% of individual rights cases ended in a guilty plea. For all offenses in this district, the plea share was 95%. Every guilty plea in this district (100%) had a written plea agreement.

## Prison Terms Overall

The U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type is "Individual Rights." Of the 26 people, 19 (73%) were sentenced to prison and 3 (12%) received probation only.

The median prison term among those sent to prison was 24 months (2 years). A quarter received 84 months or more, and a quarter received 9.5 months or less. One person received a life sentence.

For all districts, 68% of 855 people were sent to prison, and the median was 30 months. These are terms imposed, not time served.

## Guidelines and Mandatory Minimums

The most common primary guideline was §2H1.1 (Offenses Involving Individual Rights), with 23 people. One person each was sentenced under §2H3.3 (Obstructing Correspondence) and §2H3.2 (Manufacturing, Distributing, Advertising, or Possessing an Eavesdropping Device).

A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 4 of the 26 people (15%). These cases were less than 1% of the 9,958 people sentenced in the district.

## Below the Guideline Range

Of the 26 people, 7 (27%) were within the guideline range. Below the range at the government's request were 10 (38%), and below it without a government request were 9 (35%). None were above the range.

For all districts, 38% were within the range. For all offenses in this district, 29% were within the range.

## Release Terms and Criminal History

Supervised release after prison was ordered for 19 people (73%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 5 (19%), and restitution for 2 (8%).

On criminal history, 81% of the people were in category I, the lowest, and none were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

## Counts and Medians by Year

The district sentenced 9 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 17 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. A fiscal year runs from October 1 to the end of September.

Yearly counts are from 1 to 5 people. Medians run from 4 months to 295 months, and several years have no median because too few people were sent to prison. These counts are far too small to show a trend.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 3                | 84 months     | 0 of 3         |
| 2017        | 4                | 13 months     | 2 of 4         |
| 2018        | 1                | n/a           | 1 of 1         |
| 2019        | 1                | n/a           | 1 of 1         |
| 2020        | 4                | 72 months     | 3 of 4         |
| 2021        | 1                | 84 months     | 1 of 1         |
| 2022        | 1                | n/a           | 1 of 1         |
| 2023        | 2                | 295 months    | 1 of 2         |
| 2024        | 5                | 12 months     | 5 of 5         |
| 2025        | 4                | 4 months      | 3 of 4         |

## What the Records Do Not Show

Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, and the conduct in each case is not described.

Fort Irwin, Twentynine Palms, and Vandenberg SFB are in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal district court.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Central District of California (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "California Central") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Individual Rights" (26). 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 Central District of California, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-central-district-of-california/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Central District of California, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-central-district-of-california/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Central District of California, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-central-district-of-california/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Central District of California, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-central-district-of-california/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Central District of California, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-central-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.