Federal Individual Rights Offense Sentences in the Northern District of Illinois, FY2016–2025
In the Northern District of Illinois, 10 of the 16 people sentenced for individual rights offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2024 were convicted after a trial. Only 38% pleaded guilty, compared with 80% for this offense type in all 94 districts. The median prison term was 70.5 months.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Northern District of Illinois, FY20 › Individual Rights Offense: Northern District of Illinois
In brief: In the Northern District of Illinois, 10 of the 16 people sentenced for individual rights offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2024 were convicted after a trial. Only 38% pleaded guilty, compared with 80% for this offense type in all 94 districts. The median prison term was 70.5 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 16 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 Were Common in This Group
Of the 16 people in this offense type, 6 (38%) pleaded guilty and 10 were convicted after a trial. For all individual rights cases in the 94 federal districts, 80% pleaded guilty. For all offenses in this district, the figure was 93%.
All 6 guilty pleas had a written plea agreement. The median prison term was 70 months after a guilty plea and 80 months after a trial. The trial figure is based on 9 people who were convicted at trial and sent to prison.
What the Category Covers
"Individual Rights" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's name for a group of offenses, sorted by primary sentencing guideline. The most common was §2H1.1 (Offenses Involving Individual Rights), with 9 people. The next was §2H4.1 (Peonage, Involuntary Servitude, and Slave Trade), with 7 people.
These cases were less than 1% of the 6,211 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
Length of Prison Terms
Of the 16 people, 14 (88%) received a prison term, and 2 (13%) received probation only. The median prison term among those sent to prison was 70.5 months (5.9 years). A quarter received 85.2 months or more, and a quarter received 33 months or less.
For this offense type in all 94 districts, 68% were sent to prison and the median prison term was 30 months. For all offenses in the Northern District of Illinois, the median was 42 months. The median here was higher than both.
Position Against the Guideline Range
In all, 9 people (56%) were sentenced within the guideline range. One (6%) was sentenced below it at the government's request, 5 (31%) below it without a government request, and 1 (6%) above it.
Across all 94 districts, 38% of individual rights sentences were within the range, and the figure for all offenses in this district was 29%. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to none of the 16.
Supervised Release, Restitution, and Criminal History
After prison, 14 people (88%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 24 months. A fine was ordered for 1 person (6%). Restitution was ordered for 10 people (63%).
All 16 were in the lowest criminal history category. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Year-by-Year Counts Are Small
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 4 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 12. The largest single year was 5 people, in fiscal year 2024. The table shows that most years had 1 or 2 people, so one year's median should not be read as a trend.
Fiscal years run from the start of October to the end of September.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2 | 19.5 months | 0 of 2 |
| 2018 | 2 | 32 months | 1 of 2 |
| 2020 | 2 | 79 months | 0 of 2 |
| 2021 | 2 | 111 months | 1 of 2 |
| 2022 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2023 | 2 | 70 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2024 | 5 | 87 months | 1 of 5 |
What the Records Leave Out
The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not included. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
Great Lakes, Illinois, is a military installation in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal district court, and no link between the installation and these cases is shown.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of Illinois (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Illinois North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Individual Rights" (16). 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 Northern District of Illinois, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of Illinois, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of Illinois, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of Illinois, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Robbery Sentences in the Northern District of Illinois, 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.