Federal Manslaughter Sentences in the District of Utah, FY2016–2025
In the District of Utah, 21 people were sentenced for manslaughter offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2024, and all 21 (100%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 51 months (4.2 years), lower than the 63 months for the same offense type across all 94 federal districts. All 21 pleaded gui
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the District of Utah, FY2016–2025 › Manslaughter: District of Utah
In brief: In the District of Utah, 21 people were sentenced for manslaughter offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2024, and all 21 (100%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 51 months (4.2 years), lower than the 63 months for the same offense type across all 94 federal districts. All 21 pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 21 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.
Every Manslaughter Case Ended in Prison
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counts people who were convicted and sentenced in federal court. For the offense type "Manslaughter" in the District of Utah, that was 21 people. None received probation only, and 21 of 21 (100%) were sentenced to prison.
Across all 94 federal districts, 96% of the 743 people sentenced for manslaughter were sent to prison. The Utah share is therefore slightly higher, but the Utah group is small, so a difference of this size says little by itself.
The Commission's offense types are broad categories. The most common primary guidelines in these Utah cases were §2A1.3 (Voluntary Manslaughter), with 11 people, and §2A1.4 (Involuntary Manslaughter), with 10 people.
How Long Were the Prison Terms?
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 51 months (4.2 years). A quarter received 78 months or more, and a quarter received 18 months or less. The wide spread between the 78-month and 18-month figures shows that the terms in this group varied a great deal.
The median for all offenses in the District of Utah was 30 months, so manslaughter terms were higher than the district's overall median. They were lower than the 63-month median for manslaughter in all districts combined.
Prison terms here are the terms imposed by the court, not the time actually served.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 5 | 45 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2017 | 1 | 63 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2018 | 1 | 78 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2019 | 3 | 48 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2020 | 1 | 39 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2021 | 3 | 84 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2022 | 1 | 84 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2023 | 4 | 15 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2024 | 2 | 54.2 months | 2 of 2 |
Guilty Pleas and Plea Agreements
All 21 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none were convicted after a trial. Across all districts, 93% of manslaughter cases ended in a guilty plea. For all offenses in the District of Utah, the figure was 99%.
Among the guilty pleas, 95% had a written plea agreement and 5% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The Commission data does not include people who were acquitted or whose cases were dismissed. It cannot show how many manslaughter charges were brought and then did not end in a conviction.
Where Sentences Fell Against the Guideline Range
The sentencing guidelines give a recommended range for each case. Of the 21 people with this information, 38% (8) were sentenced within the range. Another 33% (7) were sentenced below the range at the government's request, and 10% (2) were sentenced below the range without a government request. The sentence was above the range for 19% (4).
Sentences within the range were less common in Utah manslaughter cases than the 45% for manslaughter in all districts. They were more common than the 24% for all offenses in the District of Utah.
No one in this group had a mandatory minimum prison term recorded.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
All 21 people (100%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, and the median term was 36 months. No fine was ordered for any of them. Restitution was ordered for 10 (48%).
On criminal history, 43% were in the lowest category, category I, and 5% in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so that measure has no military counterpart.
Small Numbers and What the Records Leave Out
Manslaughter cases were less than 1% of the 7,061 people sentenced in the District of Utah in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. There were 10 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 11 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. Most single years had 1 to 5 people, so a year-to-year change in the median is not a trend.
Hill AFB, Utah, is in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal district court, and this post reports federal numbers on their own.
The records do not describe the facts of any case. They cannot show why a sentence was higher or lower, and they do not cover cases that ended without a sentence.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of Utah (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Utah") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Manslaughter" (21). 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 District of Utah, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of Utah, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of Utah, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of Utah, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of Utah, 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.