Federal Individual Rights Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025
Of the 21 people sentenced for individual rights offenses in the Eastern District of North Carolina, 13 (62%) received probation only and 7 (33%) received a prison term, with a median of 2 months. Across all 94 federal districts, 68% were sent to prison, with a median of 30 months.
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In brief: Of the 21 people sentenced for individual rights offenses in the Eastern District of North Carolina, 13 (62%) received probation only and 7 (33%) received a prison term, with a median of 2 months. Across all 94 federal districts, 68% were sent to prison, with a median of 30 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 21 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.
More Probation Than Prison
In this district, 13 of the 21 people (62%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. 7 (33%) received a prison term. For all districts, 68% of the 855 people in this offense type were sent to prison.
Among the 7 people sent to prison, the median prison term was 2 months. A quarter received 27 months or more, and a quarter received 0.7 months or less. For all districts, the median was 30 months, which is much longer.
Mostly Election-Related Cases
Individual Rights is an offense type of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, assigned from each case's primary guideline. Here, 16 of the 21 people were sentenced under §2H2.1 (Obstructing an Election or Registration).
The others were sentenced under §2H1.1 (Offenses Involving Individual Rights) for 2, §2H3.1 (Interception of Communications) for 1, and §2H4.1 (Peonage, Involuntary Servitude, and Slave Trade) for 1. The 21 cases were less than 1% of the 7,801 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
One Year Accounts for Most Cases
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 16 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 5. The table shows that fiscal year 2019 had 15 people, with a listed median of 1 months. Each other listed year had 1 or 2 people.
The overall figures therefore mostly reflect one year. The medians in the other years rest on 1 or 2 people and should not be read as a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 1 | 0 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2019 | 15 | 1 months | 100% |
| 2020 | 2 | 26 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2021 | 1 | 28 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2022 | 1 | 36 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2025 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
Guilty Pleas and Plea Agreements
All 21 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none were convicted after a trial. For all districts, 80% pleaded guilty, so trials were more common elsewhere in this offense type.
Among the guilty pleas, 67% had a written plea agreement and 33% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Sentences and the Guideline Range
The range was recorded for 20 people. Of those, 80% (16) were sentenced within it. 10% (2) were below it without a government request, 5% (1) were below it at the government's request, and 5% (1) were above it.
Within-range sentences were more common here than the 38% for all districts and the 56% for all offenses in this district. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 20 people with that information recorded (5%).
Fines, Supervised Release, and Criminal History
A fine was ordered for 13 people (62%), and restitution for 3 (14%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 6 (29%), with a median term of 12 months.
In criminal history, 75% were in the lowest category I and 0% in the highest category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
What Cannot Be Learned Here
The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not included, and prison terms are those imposed, not time served. The Commission's count for this group covers fiscal years 2018 to 2025.
Camp Lejeune, Fort Bragg, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, and Seymour Johnson AFB are in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal court.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of North Carolina (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "N Carolina East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Individual Rights" (21). 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 Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, 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.