Federal Individual Rights Offense Sentences in the Western District of Missouri, FY2016–2025
In the Western District of Missouri, 15 people were sentenced for individual rights offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of them, 9 (60%) received a prison term, with a median of 45 months (3.8 years), and 8 of 14 sentences with guideline data were below the range at the government's request.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Western District of Missouri, FY201 › Individual Rights Offense: Western District of Missouri
In brief: In the Western District of Missouri, 15 people were sentenced for individual rights offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of them, 9 (60%) received a prison term, with a median of 45 months (3.8 years), and 8 of 14 sentences with guideline data were below the range at the government's request.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 15 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.
Below-Range Sentences at the Government's Request
The Commission recorded the guideline position for 14 of the 15 people. Of those, 57% (8) were below the range at the government's request, 29% (4) were below it without a request, and 14% (2) were within it. None was above the range.
Across all 94 districts, 38% of individual rights sentences were within the range, and for all offenses in this district the figure was also 38%. The share within the range here was lower than both.
Prison Terms Compared With All Districts
Of the 15 people, 9 (60%) received a prison term and 5 (33%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. For all 94 districts, 68% were sent to prison.
The median prison term here was 45 months. A quarter received 108 months or more, and a quarter received 30 months or less. The median for all 94 districts was 30 months, so the district median is higher.
For all offenses in this district, the median was 72 months. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
What "Individual Rights" Covers
The Sentencing Commission uses "Individual Rights" as an offense type, drawn from the primary guideline in each case. In this district, 12 people were sentenced mainly under §2H1.1 (Offenses Involving Individual Rights). One person was sentenced under §2H3.1 (Interception of Communications).
The category does not show which specific federal law was charged, so the records here cannot describe the facts of these cases.
Guilty Pleas and Trials
Of the 15 people, 13 (87%) pleaded guilty and 2 were convicted after a trial. For all 94 districts, 80% pleaded guilty. For all offenses in this district, 98% did. The plea rate here is higher than the national rate for this type and lower than the district-wide rate.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 48 months. After a trial, it was 40.5 months, based on 2 people. A sample of 2 cannot support a comparison.
All guilty pleas (100%) had a written plea agreement.
Other Terms Ordered
No mandatory minimum prison term applied (0 of 15). Supervised release followed prison for 8 people (53%), with a median term of 36 months. No fine was ordered (0%), and restitution was ordered for 4 people (27%).
All 15 (100%) were in the lowest criminal history category (category I), and 0% were in the highest (category VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Small Numbers Year by Year
Of the 15 people, 5 were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 10 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. The district sentenced 7,571 people overall, and individual rights cases were less than 1% of them.
In the table, yearly counts run from 1 to 6 people. A median of 0.5 months in 2017 and 48 months in 2016 each rest on a few people. These are not trends, and "n/a" marks years where no median could be reported.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 3 | 48 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2017 | 2 | 0.5 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2020 | 6 | 40.5 months | 4 of 6 |
| 2022 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2023 | 1 | 108 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2024 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2025 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
What Is Not in the Data
Only people convicted and sentenced are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are missing, so the figures cannot show how often individual rights charges ended in conviction.
Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and Whiteman AFB, Missouri, are in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal district court.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Western District of Missouri (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Missouri West") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Individual Rights" (15). 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 Western District of Missouri, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Western District of Missouri, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Western District of Missouri, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Western District of Missouri, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Child Pornography Sentences in the Western District of Missouri, 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.