Federal Individual Rights Offense Sentences in the Middle District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025
In the Middle District of Tennessee, 8 of the 14 people sentenced for individual rights offenses were convicted after a trial, and 6 (43%) pleaded guilty. Across all 94 federal districts, 80% of people in this offense type pleaded guilty. The median prison term here was 8 months, compared with 30 mo
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Middle District of Tennessee, FY201 › Individual Rights Offense: Middle District of Tennessee
In brief: In the Middle District of Tennessee, 8 of the 14 people sentenced for individual rights offenses were convicted after a trial, and 6 (43%) pleaded guilty. Across all 94 federal districts, 80% of people in this offense type pleaded guilty. The median prison term here was 8 months, compared with 30 months nationally.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 14 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 Trial Convictions Than Guilty Pleas
The U.S. Sentencing Commission recorded 14 people sentenced in this district for individual rights offenses, in fiscal years 2016 to 2024. Only 6 of the 14 (43%) pleaded guilty. The other 8 were convicted after a trial.
That is unusual for this district, where 96% of all people sentenced pleaded guilty. For this offense type across all 94 districts, the rate was 80%.
The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. People acquitted at trial are not in it, so the data cannot say how many trials in this offense type ended in a full acquittal.
Prison Terms and Probation
11 of the 14 (79%) received a prison term, and 1 (7%) received probation only. The median prison term was 8 months. A quarter received 20 months or more, and a quarter received 0 months or less.
After a guilty plea, the median prison term was 6 months. After a trial, it was 8 months, based on 7 people convicted at trial and sent to prison.
For all 94 districts, this offense type had 855 people, and 68% were sent to prison. The median prison term nationally was 30 months. The district's median for all offenses was 50 months.
One Guideline Covers All 14 Cases
"Individual Rights" is the Commission's name for a group of offenses. In this district, the primary guideline was the same for all 14 people: §2H1.1 (Offenses Involving Individual Rights).
These cases were less than 1% of the 2,879 people sentenced in the district across fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
How Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range
Sentences were within the guideline range for 7% of the 14 people (1). They were below the range at the government's request for 36% (5) and below the range without a government request for 57% (8). None was above the range.
Nationally, 38% of sentences for this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in the district, 26% were. Individual rights sentences here were within the range less often than either figure.
No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 14 people.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Plea Agreements
11 people (79%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 1 person (7%), and restitution for none.
Of the 6 guilty pleas, 5 had a written plea agreement and 1 was a straight plea with no agreement.
Criminal history was low: 86% were in the lowest category and 0% in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Yearly Counts Are Very Small
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 4 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 10. Fiscal year 2024 had the most, with 7 people, of whom 1 pleaded guilty.
The table shows a median prison term of 204 months for 2023 and 60 months for 2021. Those years have 2 and 1 people, so the medians describe individual cases and not a pattern. Fiscal year 2016 shows n/a for the median prison term.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2018 | 2 | 6 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2021 | 1 | 60 months | 0 of 1 |
| 2023 | 2 | 204 months | 1 of 2 |
| 2024 | 7 | 7 months | 1 of 7 |
What the Records Cannot Show
The records do not give the facts of any case or the reasons for any sentence. It also cannot show why trials were more common in this group, and prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Middle District of Tennessee (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Tennessee Mid") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Individual Rights" (14). 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 Middle District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Middle District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Middle District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Middle District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Middle District of Tennessee, 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.