Federal Individual Rights Offense Sentences in the Southern District of West Virginia, FY2016–2025
The Southern District of West Virginia sentenced 12 people for individual rights offenses, all in fiscal years 2021 to 2025. Of the 12, 11 (92%) received a prison term, and the median was 168 months (14 years). That median is higher than the 30 months for all 94 districts.
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In brief: The Southern District of West Virginia sentenced 12 people for individual rights offenses, all in fiscal years 2021 to 2025. Of the 12, 11 (92%) received a prison term, and the median was 168 months (14 years). That median is higher than the 30 months for all 94 districts.
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.
Long Prison Terms in a Short Period
All 12 people in this offense type were sentenced in fiscal years 2021 to 2025. Of those, 11 (92%) received a prison term, and 1 (8%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
The median prison term was 168 months. A quarter received 237.5 months or more, and a quarter received 104 months or less. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
For all 94 districts in the Individual Rights offense type, 68% were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 30 months. The median for all offenses in this district is 42 months. The median here is higher than both.
What Is the Individual Rights Offense Type?
"Individual Rights" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type. The most common primary guideline was §2H1.1 (Offenses Involving Individual Rights), for 11 people. One person's primary guideline was §2H3.3 (Obstructing Correspondence).
These cases were less than 1% of the 2,416 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The sheet does not describe the underlying conduct, and the records cannot show it.
Most Sentences Were Below the Range at the Government's Request
The guideline range is the range the federal sentencing guidelines calculate for each case. Of the 12 sentences, 9 (75%) were below the range at the government's request. Another 2 (17%) were within the range, and 1 (8%) was above the range. None was below the range without a government request.
For all districts in this offense type, 38% of sentences were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the figure is 51%. Within-range sentences were less common here than either figure.
Pleas and Plea Agreements
Of the 12 people, 11 (92%) pleaded guilty and 1 was convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 174 months after a guilty plea and 108 months after the trial. The trial figure is based on 1 person.
Across all districts, 80% pleaded guilty in this offense type. For all offenses in this district the share is 97%. The 92% here is higher than the all-district figure for this offense type. Every guilty plea (100%) was made under a written plea agreement. No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 12 people (0%).
Supervised Release, Restitution, and Criminal History
The court ordered supervised release after prison for 11 people (92%), and the median term was 36 months. Restitution applied to 1 person (8%), and no one received a fine.
All 12 people were in the lowest criminal history category, category I, and none was in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Yearly Counts Are Very Small
The table lists fiscal years 2021 to 2025. The largest year is 2025, with 7 people and a median of 108 months. The other years have 1 or 2 people, and 2024 shows "n/a" for the median. The medians range from 108 months to 300 months, and each rests on a handful of people.
People whose cases ended in acquittal or dismissal are absent from this data, so the records cannot show how often that happened.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1 | 300 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2022 | 2 | 138 months | 1 of 2 |
| 2023 | 1 | 180 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2024 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2025 | 7 | 108 months | 7 of 7 |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of West Virginia (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "W Virginia South") 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 Southern District of West Virginia, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of West Virginia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of West Virginia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of West Virginia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Prison Offense Sentences in the Southern District of West 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.