Federal Individual Rights Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Missouri, FY2016–2025
Of the 22 people sentenced for individual rights offenses in the Eastern District of Missouri in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 18 (82%) pleaded guilty and 4 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 24 months among the 13 sent to prison. For this offense type in all 94 federal districts,
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In brief: Of the 22 people sentenced for individual rights offenses in the Eastern District of Missouri in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 18 (82%) pleaded guilty and 4 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 24 months among the 13 sent to prison. For this offense type in all 94 federal districts, it was 30 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 22 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.
Guilty Pleas and Trials
In this district, 4 of the 22 people were convicted after a trial. Guilty pleas were 82% (18). Nationwide, 80% of people sentenced for this offense type pleaded guilty, and for all offenses in this district the figure was 99%.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 24 months. After a trial it was 31.5 months, based on 4 people sent to prison. With so few trial cases, the comparison shows little about trials in general.
All of the guilty pleas had a written plea agreement.
Prison and Probation
Of the 22 people, 13 (59%) received a prison term, and 8 (36%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. Nationwide, 68% were sent to prison.
The median prison term was 24 months (2 years). A quarter of those sent to prison received 52 months or more, and a quarter received 9 months or less. The median for all 94 districts was 30 months, which is higher than the median here.
For all offenses in the district, the median was 46 months. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 22 people.
What the Offense Type Covers
"Individual Rights" is a Commission category assigned by the primary guideline. The most common was §2H1.1 (Offenses Involving Individual Rights), with 17 people. Next was §2H3.3 (Obstructing Correspondence), with 5 people.
These cases were less than 1% of the 9,425 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
Relation to the Guideline Range
Within the range were 41% of the sentences (9). Below the range at the government's request were 32% (7), and below the range without a government request were 27% (6). No sentences were above the range.
For all districts, 38% of sentences for this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the figure was 42%.
Supervised Release, Fines, Restitution, and Criminal History
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 13 people (59%), with a median term of 24 months. A fine was ordered for 3 people (14%), and restitution for 3 people (14%).
All of the people, 100%, were in the lowest criminal history category. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Counts by Fiscal Year
From fiscal years 2016 to 2019, 3 people were sentenced. From fiscal years 2020 to 2025, 19 were sentenced. The fiscal year runs from October 1 through the end of September.
Fiscal year 2022 had 8 people, the most of any year. The other years had 4 people or fewer, so the yearly medians are not a basis for a trend. Fiscal year 2024 shows a median of 0 months.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2 | 86 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2017 | 1 | 51 months | 0 of 1 |
| 2020 | 2 | 4 months | 1 of 2 |
| 2021 | 1 | 52 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2022 | 8 | 12 months | 6 of 8 |
| 2023 | 4 | 18 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2024 | 3 | 0 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2025 | 1 | 24 months | 1 of 1 |
Limits of the Records
Only convicted and sentenced people are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, and prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Missouri (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Missouri East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Individual Rights" (22). 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 Eastern District of Missouri, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Missouri, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Missouri, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Missouri, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Child Pornography Sentences in the Eastern District of Missouri, 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.