Federal Kidnapping Sentences in the Southern District of New York, FY2016–2025
All 44 people sentenced for the Commission's offense type "Kidnapping" in the Southern District of New York in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term. The median prison term was 72 months (6 years). For this offense type in all 94 federal districts, the median was 155 months.
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In brief: All 44 people sentenced for the Commission's offense type "Kidnapping" in the Southern District of New York in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term. The median prison term was 72 months (6 years). For this offense type in all 94 federal districts, the median was 155 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 44 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 Prison Term for All 44 People
The sheet counts 44 people, and 44 of them (100%) were sentenced to prison. None received probation only.
The median prison term was 72 months, and a quarter of the group received 145.5 months or more. A quarter received 45 months or less. These are the terms imposed, not time served.
Across all districts, 1,124 people were sentenced for this offense type, and the median prison term was 155 months. The median here is lower than that national figure. It is higher than the median of 33 months for all offenses in this district.
Where Sentences Fell Against the Guideline Range
Only 20% of the sentences (9) were within the guideline range. 34% (15) were below the range at the government's request, and 45% (20) were below it without a government request. None was above the range.
The guideline range is what the court calculates under the Sentencing Guidelines before choosing a sentence. For this offense type in all districts, 33% of sentences were within it. For all offenses in this district, 22% were.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 12 of the 44 people (27%).
Trials and Guilty Pleas
37 of 44 people (84%) pleaded guilty, and 7 were convicted after a trial. The plea rate for this offense type was also 84% across all districts, and it was 95% for all offenses in this district.
The median prison term was 60 months after a guilty plea and 270 months after a trial. The trial figure comes from 7 people. That is too few to say how trial and plea sentences usually compare in this offense type.
Among the guilty pleas, 73% had a written plea agreement, and 27% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Which Guideline Was Used
Kidnapping is the Commission's category label, and the records place each case by its primary guideline. §2A4.1 (Kidnapping, Abduction, Unlawful Restraint) was the primary guideline for 40 people.
§2X1.1 (Attempt, Solicitation, or Conspiracy (Not Covered by a Specific Offense Guideline)) was the primary guideline for 4 people. The cases were less than 1% of the 12,035 people sentenced in this district.
Years With Few Cases
In fiscal years 2016 to 2019, 18 people were sentenced. In fiscal years 2020 to 2025, 26 people were sentenced. The table lists no row for fiscal year 2020.
Yearly counts ran from 2 to 8 people, and the yearly medians range from 36 months to 288 months. With so few people in each year, the medians reflect small groups. The records cannot show whether any pattern exists.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 6 | 60 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2017 | 2 | 150 months | 1 of 2 |
| 2018 | 7 | 100 months | 5 of 7 |
| 2019 | 3 | 36 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2021 | 3 | 288 months | 1 of 3 |
| 2022 | 3 | 72 months | 1 of 3 |
| 2023 | 5 | 60 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2024 | 7 | 96 months | 7 of 7 |
| 2025 | 8 | 63 months | 8 of 8 |
After Prison, and What the Data Leaves Out
All 44 people (100%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 36 months. No fine was ordered, and restitution was ordered for 5 people (11%).
Criminal history category I, the lowest, applied to 64% of the people, and category VI, the highest, applied to 2%. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Only people who were convicted and sentenced appear here. People acquitted or whose cases were dismissed are not counted, and the data does not describe any individual case.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of New York (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "New York South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Kidnapping" (44). 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 Southern District of New York, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of New York, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of New York, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of New York, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Robbery Sentences in the Southern District of New York, 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.