> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Federal Kidnapping Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-kidnapping-sentences-southern-district-of-texas/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:07:53.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:07:53.000Z
- Description: All 84 people sentenced for kidnapping in the Southern District of Texas in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term. The median was 171 months (14.2 years), compared with 155 months across all districts. After a trial, the median was 454.5 months, based on 6 people.
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [Federal Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016–](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-southern-district-of-texas/) › Kidnapping: Southern District of Texas

**In brief:** All 84 people sentenced for kidnapping in the Southern District of Texas in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term. The median was 171 months (14.2 years), compared with 155 months across all districts. After a trial, the median was 454.5 months, based on 6 people.

Updated November 4, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025

This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 84 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/).

## Prison for Everyone Sentenced

Of the 84 people, 84 (100%) received a prison term, and none received probation only. The median prison term was 171 months. A quarter received 243 months or more, and a quarter received 120 months or less. A life sentence was imposed on 3 people.

The national group for kidnapping had 1,124 people, with a median prison term of 155 months. This district's median was higher than that. Its median for all offenses was 13 months.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 5                | 180 months    | 5 of 5         |
| 2017        | 18               | 240 months    | 89%            |
| 2018        | 5                | 153 months    | 5 of 5         |
| 2019        | 6                | 168 months    | 6 of 6         |
| 2020        | 2                | 305 months    | 1 of 2         |
| 2021        | 6                | 72 months     | 6 of 6         |
| 2022        | 12               | 173 months    | 100%           |
| 2023        | 15               | 151 months    | 93%            |
| 2024        | 9                | 240 months    | 8 of 9         |
| 2025        | 6                | 110.5 months  | 5 of 6         |

## The Guideline Used

Kidnapping is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type. Most cases, 81, used §2A4.1 (Kidnapping, Abduction, Unlawful Restraint) as the primary guideline. The other 2 listed used §2X3.1 (Accessory After the Fact).

These cases were less than 1% of the 71,026 people sentenced in the district in these years.

## Trials and Pleas

A total of 78 people (93%) pleaded guilty, and 6 were convicted after a trial. Guilty pleas made up 84% of cases nationally. In this district, 91% of those pleas had a written plea agreement, and 9% did not.

The median prison term after a guilty plea was 168 months. After a trial, it was 454.5 months, based on 6 people. The trial group is small, and the records do not show how its cases differed from the plea cases.

## Most Sentences Below the Range

Each sentence can be checked against a range the guidelines calculate. For 26 of the 84 people (31%), the sentence was inside the range. Below the range at the government's request were 42% (35), and below it without a government request were 25% (21). Above the range were 2% (2).

In all districts, 33% of kidnapping sentences were inside the range. For all offenses in this district, 58% were.

## Mandatory Minimums, Supervised Release, and Restitution

A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 13 of the 84 people with that information recorded (15%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 80 people (95%), with a median term of 36 months, and 1 person (1%) received it for life.

A fine was ordered for 3 people (4%), and restitution for 18 (21%). In criminal history, 35% were in the lowest category and 7% were in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

## Small Yearly Groups and Limits

Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 34 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 50\. Yearly groups range from 2 to 18 people. Fiscal year 2017 had 18, and the other years had 15 or fewer. The yearly medians range from 72 months to 305 months, and and groups this small do not show a trend.

The records cover only convictions that ended in a sentence. They do not include acquittals, dismissals, or uncharged cases, and they do not describe the facts of any case. They report imposed prison terms, not time served.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Texas (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Texas South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Kidnapping" (84). 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article)
- [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts)
- [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method)
- [Federal Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-southern-district-of-texas/) (overview)
- [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-southern-district-of-texas/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-southern-district-of-texas/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-southern-district-of-texas/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-southern-district-of-texas/) (same district, other offense type)
- [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source)
- [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.