Federal Individual Rights Offense Sentences in the Northern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025
Of the 11 people sentenced under the "Individual Rights" offense type in the Northern District of Mississippi in fiscal years 2016 to 2022, 4 (36%) went to prison. Probation alone was the sentence for 5 (45%). The median prison term, for the 4 who received one, was 24 months (2 years).
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In brief: Of the 11 people sentenced under the "Individual Rights" offense type in the Northern District of Mississippi in fiscal years 2016 to 2022, 4 (36%) went to prison. Probation alone was the sentence for 5 (45%). The median prison term, for the 4 who received one, was 24 months (2 years).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 11 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.
What Falls Under This Offense Type
The U.S. Sentencing Commission files each sentenced person under an offense type, chosen by the main guideline applied in the case. For "Individual Rights," the main guideline in this district was §2H1.1 (Offenses Involving Individual Rights) for 8 people. For 2 people it was §2H3.1 (Interception of Communications).
Cases of this type were less than 1% of the 1,573 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The records list 8 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 3 people in fiscal years 2020 to 2025.
Sentences Were Mostly Below the Guideline Range
Position against the guideline range is recorded for 10 of the 11 people. The largest group, 5 people (50%), was sentenced below the range without a request from the government. Another 3 (30%) were below the range at the government's request.
Only 2 people (20%) received a sentence within the range, and no one was sentenced above it. The share within the range was 38% for all 94 districts in this offense type and 45% for all offenses in this district.
Prison Terms and Their Length
The 4 prison terms had a median of 24 months. The upper quarter of terms started at 24 months and the lower quarter ended at 22 months, so the terms were close together.
In all 94 districts, 68% of people in this offense type were sent to prison, and the national median was 30 months. In this district as a whole, the median for all offenses was 36 months. Each figure is a term imposed, not time served.
Guilty Pleas and Agreements
All 11 people pleaded guilty, so the records hold no trial sentences to set beside them. The national share who pleaded guilty in this offense type was 80%, and the district's share for all offenses was 98%.
A written plea agreement was part of 82% of the guilty pleas, and 9% were straight pleas. No mandatory minimum was recorded for anyone (0 of 11).
Release Terms, Fines, and Prior Record
Supervised release followed prison for the same 4 people (36%), and the median term was 30 months. One person was ordered to pay a fine (9%), and one was ordered to pay restitution (9%).
Criminal history was mostly in the lowest category: 90% were in Category I, and 0% were in Category VI. The court-martial system has no criminal history field, so there is nothing to set beside that figure.
Years With People in Them
Only 5 fiscal years appear in the table, with 1 to 4 people in each: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022. In 2 of those years the median shows n/a for the median.
The table cannot show a trend. Each yearly median is built from a single sentence or a handful.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2 | 24 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2017 | 4 | n/a | 4 of 4 |
| 2018 | 1 | 24 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2019 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2022 | 3 | 20 months | 3 of 3 |
Gaps in What the Records Show
The Commission's files list only people who were convicted and sentenced. They do not list people whose cases ended in acquittal or dismissal, and they give no description of the conduct in any case.
Columbus AFB, Mississippi, lies within this federal district. Court-martial cases from the base are heard in military courts, so they do not appear in these numbers.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of Mississippi (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Mississippi North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Individual Rights" (11). 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 Mississippi, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Obscenity and Other Sex Offense Sentences in the Northern District of Mississippi, 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.