Federal Individual Rights Offense Sentences in the District of New Jersey, FY2016–2025
In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 29 people were sentenced in the District of New Jersey for individual rights offenses. 18 of them (62%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 24 months. In all 94 districts together, the median for this offense type was 30 months.
· Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 7 min read
Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the District of New Jersey, FY2016–2025 › Individual Rights Offense: District of New Jersey
In brief: In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 29 people were sentenced in the District of New Jersey for individual rights offenses. 18 of them (62%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 24 months. In all 94 districts together, the median for this offense type was 30 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 29 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.
Small Group, Mixed Sentences
The U.S. Sentencing Commission groups federal cases into offense types. "Individual Rights" is one of those categories. In the District of New Jersey, 29 people were sentenced under it over the 10 fiscal years, which is less than 1% of the 6,441 people sentenced in the district.
Of the 29, 18 (62%) received a prison term and 9 (31%) received probation only. Probation only means no prison or other confinement. Across all 94 districts, 68% of the 855 people in this category were sent to prison.
How Long Were the Prison Terms?
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 24 months (2 years). A quarter received 32.2 months or more, and a quarter received 18.5 months or less. The median is the middle value when all terms are listed from shortest to longest.
The median for all districts in this offense type was 30 months. The median for all offenses in the District of New Jersey was 37 months. Both comparison figures are higher than the 24 months for individual rights cases here.
Prison terms in the Commission's data are the terms imposed by the judge, not the time actually served.
Guilty Pleas and Trials
21 of the 29 people (72%) pleaded guilty, and 8 were convicted after a trial. The share of guilty pleas is lower than the 80% for all districts in this category, and lower than the 97% for all offenses in the district.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 24 months. After a trial it was 30.5 months. That trial figure is based on only 8 people convicted at trial and sent to prison, so it is a small group.
Among the guilty pleas, 100% had a written plea agreement.
Where Sentences Fell Against the Guideline Range
The guideline range is the sentence range calculated under the federal Sentencing Guidelines. For all 29 people, the sentence was within the range for 34% (10). It was below the range at the government's request for 41% (12) and below the range without a government request for 21% (6). One sentence (3%) was above the range.
For all 94 districts, 38% of sentences in this category were within the range. For all offenses in the district, the figure was 37%.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 29 people (3%).
Which Guidelines Were Used
The most common primary guideline was §2H1.1 (Offenses Involving Individual Rights), with 17 people. Next was §2H2.1 (Obstructing an Election or Registration) with 6, then §2H3.3 (Obstructing Correspondence) with 3, and §2H4.1 (Peonage, Involuntary Servitude, and Slave Trade) with 2.
In criminal history terms, 90% were in criminal history category I and 0% were in category VI.
Supervision, Fines, and Restitution
18 people (62%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison. The median supervised release term was 36 months.
A fine was ordered for 10 people (34%). Restitution was ordered for 15 (52%).
Counts by Fiscal Year
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 account for 5 people. Fiscal years 2020 to 2025 account for 24 people. The yearly counts in the table are very small, from 1 to 10 people, so single-year medians should not be read as trends.
The district includes Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, which appears in this site's court-martial data. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal district court.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1 | 300 months | 0 of 1 |
| 2017 | 3 | 21 months | 1 of 3 |
| 2019 | 1 | 42 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2020 | 3 | 36.5 months | 1 of 3 |
| 2021 | 4 | 28 months | 3 of 4 |
| 2022 | 10 | 24 months | 90% |
| 2023 | 2 | 30 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2024 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2025 | 4 | 22 months | 3 of 4 |
What the Records Cannot Show
The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it. The records do not describe the facts of any case, and they cannot show why a sentence was higher or lower than the guideline range.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of New Jersey (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "New Jersey") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Individual Rights" (29). 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 (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- Federal Sentences in the District of New Jersey, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of New Jersey, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of New Jersey, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of New Jersey, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of New Jersey, 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.