Federal Kidnapping Sentences in the Middle District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025
All 26 people sentenced for kidnapping in the Middle District of North Carolina in fiscal years 2017 to 2025 received a prison term. The median prison term was 174 months (14.5 years), compared with 155 months for kidnapping in all 94 districts. Of the 26, 25 (96%) pleaded guilty.
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In brief: All 26 people sentenced for kidnapping in the Middle District of North Carolina in fiscal years 2017 to 2025 received a prison term. The median prison term was 174 months (14.5 years), compared with 155 months for kidnapping in all 94 districts. Of the 26, 25 (96%) pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 26 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.
A Median Prison Term of 14.5 Years
Every person (100%) was sentenced to prison, and none received probation only. The median prison term was 174 months. A quarter received 240 months or more, and a quarter received 120 months or less.
For kidnapping cases in all 94 districts, more than 99% were sent to prison, and the median was 155 months. The median here is higher. For all offenses in this district, the median was 60 months.
Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
Guilty Pleas in 25 of 26 Cases
Of the 26 people, 25 (96%) pleaded guilty, and 1 was convicted after a trial. In all 94 districts, 84% of kidnapping cases ended in a guilty plea.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 168 months. The person convicted at trial received 470 months. One trial case cannot show how trial and plea sentences differ in general.
Among the guilty pleas, 96% had a written plea agreement and 4% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Sentences Against the Guideline Range
The guideline range is the sentencing range calculated under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. In this district, 11 sentences (42%) were within the range. For all 94 districts, 33% were within the range.
Below the range at the government's request were 6 (23%), and below the range without a government request were 8 (31%). Above the range was 1 (4%).
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 5 of the 26 people (19%).
One Guideline Covered Every Case
"Kidnapping" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type, assigned from the primary guideline. All 26 cases used §2A4.1 (Kidnapping, Abduction, Unlawful Restraint).
Kidnapping cases were less than 1% of the 3,816 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. In criminal history, 38% were in the lowest category, category I, and 15% were in the highest, category VI.
Supervised Release and Restitution
All 26 people (100%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 42 months. Restitution was ordered for 17 (65%), and no fine was ordered for anyone.
Yearly Counts
The table lists the fiscal years with kidnapping sentences. Fiscal year 2024 had 10 people, which is the largest yearly group. The district sentenced 7 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 19 people in fiscal years 2020 to 2025.
The yearly medians run from 87.5 months to 319 months, but most years have 1 to 4 people. The records cannot show a trend or the reason for any change.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 2 | 87.5 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2018 | 2 | 250 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2019 | 3 | 120 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2020 | 1 | 319 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2021 | 2 | 180 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2022 | 2 | 240 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2024 | 10 | 187.5 months | 90% |
| 2025 | 4 | 180 months | 4 of 4 |
What the Records Leave Out
The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced, so it has no acquittals or dismissals. It does not describe the facts of any case.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Middle District of North Carolina (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "N Carolina Mid") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Kidnapping" (26). 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.
Mandatory minimum sentences. Many federal statutes on drugs, images of child exploitation, child sex abuse, and firearms carry mandatory minimum prison terms. The UCMJ has mandatory minimums only for a few offenses (a dishonorable discharge or dismissal for rape and sexual assault, and life for premeditated murder). Federal sentences for these offenses are partly set by Congress, not by the judge.
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 Middle District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Middle District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Middle District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Robbery Sentences in the Middle District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Middle District of North Carolina, 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.