Federal Murder Sentences in the District of North Dakota, FY2016–2025
In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 24 people were sentenced in federal court in the District of North Dakota for murder offenses, and all 24 received a prison term. The median prison term was 240 months (20 years), and 5 people received a life sentence. The group is small, so each number rests on very fe
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the District of North Dakota, FY2016–20 › Murder: District of North Dakota
In brief: In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 24 people were sentenced in federal court in the District of North Dakota for murder offenses, and all 24 received a prison term. The median prison term was 240 months (20 years), and 5 people received a life sentence. The group is small, so each number rests on very few people.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 24 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.
Prison Terms in North Dakota Murder Cases
All 24 people received a prison term, and none received probation only. The median prison term was 240 months (20 years). A quarter received 470 months or more, and a quarter received 159 months or less. The 5 life sentences are counted separately from those figures.
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in its data. The prison terms are the terms imposed, not the time actually served.
What Counts as Murder in This Data
"Murder" is the Commission's own offense type, a category it assigns to each case. It is not a single statute. The most common primary guidelines in these cases were §2A1.2 (Second Degree Murder) with 14 people, §2X3.1 (Accessory After the Fact) with 5, and §2A1.1 (First Degree Murder) with 5.
Because Accessory After the Fact is part of the category, not every person in this group was sentenced for the killing itself. The sheet does not break the prison terms out by guideline.
Pleas Compared With Trials
19 of the 24 people (79%) pleaded guilty, and 5 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 200 months. After a trial it was 470 months, based on the 5 people convicted at trial and sent to prison.
Among the guilty pleas, 95% had a written plea agreement and 5% were straight pleas with no agreement. The records do not show what charges were dropped or what was offered in any agreement, so these medians cannot be read as the effect of going to trial.
Where Sentences Fell Against the Guideline Range
Sentences were within the guideline range for 46% of the 24 people (11). Another 25% (6) were below the range at the government's request, and 4% (1) were below the range without a government request. The remaining 25% (6) were above the range.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 4 of the 21 people with that information recorded (19%).
How This District Differs From All 94 Districts
Across all 94 federal districts, 3,754 people were sentenced for murder offenses, and the median prison term was 240 months, the same as in this district. Guilty pleas were 78% nationally, compared with 79% here. Sentences within the guideline range were 39% nationally, compared with 46% here.
Murder cases were less than 1% of the 3,337 people sentenced in this district. For all offenses in the district, the median prison term was 36 months, guilty pleas were 97%, and sentences within the guideline range were 34%.
Supervised Release, Restitution, and Fines
23 people (96%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 60 months. 1 person (4%) received supervised release for life. Restitution was ordered for 21 people (88%), and no fine was ordered for anyone.
In criminal history, 42% were in the lowest category I and 25% in the highest, VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Year by Year, and What the Records Cannot Show
13 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 11 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. The fiscal year runs from October through September. The table shows 1 to 4 people in each listed year, so the yearly medians should not be read as trends.
Grand Forks AFB and Minot AFB are in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal district court, and these federal numbers say nothing about any court-martial. The records also do not show the facts of any case, the time served, or why one sentence differed from another.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 3 | 168 months | 2 of 3 |
| 2017 | 2 | 260 months | 1 of 2 |
| 2018 | 4 | 300 months | 3 of 4 |
| 2019 | 4 | 282.5 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2020 | 1 | 470 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2021 | 2 | 240 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2022 | 2 | 470 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2024 | 2 | 229.5 months | 1 of 2 |
| 2025 | 4 | 196 months | 3 of 4 |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of North Dakota (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "North Dakota") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Murder" (24). 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 District of North Dakota, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of North Dakota, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of North Dakota, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of North Dakota, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Assault Sentences in the District of North Dakota, 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.