Federal Individual Rights Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025
Guilty pleas were less common for individual rights offenses in the Eastern District of Virginia than for all offenses in the district. Of 12 people sentenced in fiscal years 2019 to 2025, 7 were convicted after a trial and 5 (42%) pleaded guilty. The median prison term was 73.5 months (6.1 years).
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY201 › Individual Rights Offense: Eastern District of Virginia
In brief: Guilty pleas were less common for individual rights offenses in the Eastern District of Virginia than for all offenses in the district. Of 12 people sentenced in fiscal years 2019 to 2025, 7 were convicted after a trial and 5 (42%) pleaded guilty. The median prison term was 73.5 months (6.1 years).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 12 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.
Trials and Pleas
The U.S. Sentencing Commission recorded 12 people in this offense type. Of the 12, 5 (42%) pleaded guilty, and 7 were convicted after a trial. For all 94 districts, 80% pleaded guilty, and for all offenses in this district the figure was 96%.
The median prison term was 36 months after a guilty plea and 87 months after a trial. The trial figure is based on 7 people. Among the 5 guilty pleas, 3 had a written plea agreement and 2 were straight pleas with no agreement.
Prison Terms
Of the 12 people, 10 (83%) received a prison term and 2 (17%) received probation only. The median prison term was 73.5 months. A quarter received 131.2 months or more, and a quarter received 18 months or less.
For all districts, 68% of 855 people were sent to prison, and the median was 30 months. The median for all offenses in this district was 46 months. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 12 people with that information recorded.
Which Guidelines Were Used
"Individual Rights" is the Sentencing Commission's offense category. The most common primary guideline was §2H4.1 (Peonage, Involuntary Servitude, and Slave Trade), with 5 people. Next were §2H1.1 (Offenses Involving Individual Rights) with 4, and §2H3.3 (Obstructing Correspondence) with 2.
Between fiscal years 2016 and 2025, the district sentenced 10,381 people in all, and these cases were less than 1% of them.
Position Against the Guideline Range
Of the 12 people, 50% (6) were sentenced within the guideline range. Another 42% (5) were below it without a government request, and 8% (1) were below it at the government's request. None was above the range.
The within-range share was 38% for all districts and 60% for all offenses in this district. This district's share was higher than the all-district share.
Supervised Release, Restitution, and Criminal History
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 8 people (67%), with a median term of 36 months. Restitution was ordered for 6 (50%), and a fine for 1 (8%).
On criminal history, 92% were in the lowest category and 0% were in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Very Small Yearly Counts
The district sentenced 1 person in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 11 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. The fiscal year runs from October 1 through the end of September. The largest yearly count was 4 people, in 2024.
The table lists medians from 0.5 months to 120 months, but each rests on 1 to 4 people, which is too few to show a pattern.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2020 | 1 | 0.5 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2021 | 1 | 6 months | 0 of 1 |
| 2023 | 3 | 120 months | 0 of 3 |
| 2024 | 4 | 111 months | 2 of 4 |
| 2025 | 2 | 12 months | 1 of 2 |
What the Records Cannot Show
The data covers people who were convicted and sentenced and leaves out acquittals and dismissals. It does not describe the facts of any case or explain why more of these cases went to trial.
Fort Lee, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Marine Corps Base Quantico, and Norfolk 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 Eastern District of Virginia (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Virginia East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Individual Rights" (12). 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 Virginia, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, 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.