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# Federal Individual Rights Offense Sentences in the District of Massachusetts, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-individual-rights-sentences-district-of-massachusetts/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:59:45.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:59:45.000Z
- Description: The District of Massachusetts sentenced 10 people under the Sentencing Commission's "Individual Rights" offense type in fiscal years 2017 to 2025. A total of 5 (50%) received a prison term, with a median of 14 months, and 4 (40%) received probation only. A total of 4 were convicted at trial.
- 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 District of Massachusetts, FY2016–2](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-district-of-massachusetts/) › Individual Rights Offense: District of Massachusetts

**In brief:** The District of Massachusetts sentenced 10 people under the Sentencing Commission's "Individual Rights" offense type in fiscal years 2017 to 2025\. A total of 5 (50%) received a prison term, with a median of 14 months, and 4 (40%) received probation only. A total of 4 were convicted at trial.

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 10 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/).

## Prison for 5 of 10 People

A total of 5 of the 10 people received a prison term. The median among them was 14 months, with a quarter at 33 months or more and a quarter at 12 months or less.

Across all 94 districts, 855 people were sentenced under this type, and 68% went to prison. The median there was 30 months, which is also the median for every offense type in this district.

## More Trials Than Usual

A total of 6 people (60%) pleaded guilty and 4 were convicted at trial. Across all districts, 80% pleaded guilty, and across all offenses in this district, 95% did.

After a guilty plea the median prison term was 0 months, and after a trial it was 23.5 months. The trial group has 4 people. Of the 6 guilty pleas, 5 had a written plea agreement and 1 did not.

## Interception and Civil Rights Guidelines

The cases were sorted by primary guideline. A total of 5 were under §2H3.1 (Interception of Communications), 4 under §2H1.1 (Offenses Involving Individual Rights), and 1 under §2H4.1 (Peonage, Involuntary Servitude, and Slave Trade).

The offense type is a category set by the Commission, not a single crime. The group was less than 1% of the 4,847 people sentenced in the district.

## Relation to the Guideline Range

A total of 3 sentences (30%) were inside the range. After a government request for a lower sentence, 4 (40%) were below it, and 3 (30%) were below it without a request. None was above.

Across all districts, 38% were inside the range, and across all offenses in this district, 29% were. No mandatory minimum applied.

## Release and Money Penalties

Supervised release followed prison for 5 people (50%), with a median term of 12 months. Fines were ordered for 5 people (50%), and restitution for 1 (10%).

Every person was in the lowest criminal history category, which is the category for people with the least prior record. The 4 people who received probation only did not have a prison term, and the records do not show what conditions the court set. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

## Years and Missing Medians

Of the 10 people, 5 were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 5 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. This district's records for the type begin in fiscal year 2017\. Each fiscal year starts on October 1.

No year has more than 3 people. Medians are n/a for 2017 and 2021, and 2025 has 1 person with a median of 102 months. The yearly figures are too small to show a pattern.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2017        | 3                | n/a           | 3 of 3         |
| 2019        | 2                | 14 months     | 1 of 2         |
| 2021        | 1                | n/a           | 1 of 1         |
| 2023        | 1                | 12 months     | 0 of 1         |
| 2024        | 2                | 16.5 months   | 1 of 2         |
| 2025        | 1                | 102 months    | 0 of 1         |

## Limits of the Data

The records cover only people who were convicted and sentenced. They exclude acquittals and dismissals, report terms imposed rather than time served, and give no facts about any case.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of Massachusetts (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Massachusetts") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Individual Rights" (10). 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](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 District of Massachusetts, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-district-of-massachusetts/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of Massachusetts, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-district-of-massachusetts/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of Massachusetts, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-district-of-massachusetts/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of Massachusetts, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-district-of-massachusetts/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of Massachusetts, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-district-of-massachusetts/) (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.