Federal Individual Rights Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Ohio, FY2016–2025
In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the Southern District of Ohio sentenced 14 people for individual rights offenses. 11 (79%) received a prison term, with a median of 18 months. For this offense type in all 94 federal districts, the median prison term was 30 months.
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In brief: In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the Southern District of Ohio sentenced 14 people for individual rights offenses. 11 (79%) received a prison term, with a median of 18 months. For this offense type in all 94 federal districts, the median prison term was 30 months.
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.
Prison Terms for Individual Rights Offenses
Of the 14 people sentenced, 11 (79%) were sent to prison and 3 (21%) received probation only. Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 18 months.
The terms were spread out. A quarter received 9 months or less, and a quarter received 71 months or more.
For all offenses in this district, the median prison term was 36 months. For individual rights offenses in all districts, 855 people were sentenced, 68% were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 30 months.
Guilty Pleas and Trials
11 of the 14 people (79%) pleaded guilty, and 3 were convicted after a trial. In all districts, 80% of people in this offense type pleaded guilty. In this district, 98% of all people sentenced pleaded guilty.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 12 months. After a trial it was 100 months, based on 3 people. Each of the guilty pleas had a written plea agreement.
These are medians for small groups. The records cannot show whether the plea, the facts of each case, or other factors explain the difference.
What Falls Under This Category?
"Individual Rights" is an offense type used by the U.S. Sentencing Commission. The Commission assigns it from the primary guideline in each case, so it covers several different kinds of conduct.
10 of the 14 cases used §2H1.1 (Offenses Involving Individual Rights). 3 used §2H3.3 (Obstructing Correspondence), and 1 used §2H4.1 (Peonage, Involuntary Servitude, and Slave Trade).
Position Against the Guideline Range
29% of sentences (4) were within the guideline range. 50% (7) were below it at the government's request, and 14% (2) were below it without a government request. 7% (1) was above the range.
In all districts, 38% of sentences for this offense type were within the range. In this district, 27% of all sentences were within it. No mandatory minimum applied to any of the 14 people.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History
11 people (79%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, and the median term was 36 months. A fine was ordered for 3 (21%), and restitution for 1 (7%).
71% were in the lowest criminal history category, category I, and 7% were in the highest, category VI.
How the Counts Changed by Year
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 5 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 9. The most in a single year was 4, in 2024. The medians in the table move between 0 months and 78 months.
With 1 or 2 people in most years, the yearly rows do not form a trend. Individual rights cases were less than 1% of the 5,580 people sentenced in the district.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2 | 33 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2017 | 1 | 0 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2018 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2019 | 1 | 12 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2021 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2022 | 1 | 42 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2023 | 1 | 18 months | 0 of 1 |
| 2024 | 4 | 53 months | 3 of 4 |
| 2025 | 2 | 78 months | 1 of 2 |
Limits of the Records
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, and prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts and are not covered here.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Ohio (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Ohio South") 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 Southern District of Ohio, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of Ohio, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of Ohio, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of Ohio, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Ohio, 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.