Federal Murder Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025
In the Eastern District of California, 21 people were sentenced for murder offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and all 21 received a prison term. The median prison term was 121 months, and 6 people received a life sentence. For this offense type in all 94 districts, the median was 240 months.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2 › Murder: Eastern District of California
In brief: In the Eastern District of California, 21 people were sentenced for murder offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and all 21 received a prison term. The median prison term was 121 months, and 6 people received a life sentence. For this offense type in all 94 districts, the median was 240 months.
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.
Life Sentences and Long Terms
The U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type "Murder" covers 21 people in this district. All 21 (100%) received a prison term, and 6 of them received a life sentence.
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 121 months (10.1 years). A quarter received 120 months or less, and a quarter received 470 months or more. These are terms imposed at sentencing, not the time actually served.
Compared With All Districts
In all 94 districts, the median prison term for murder was 240 months, and more than 99% were sent to prison. The median here was lower than the all-district median. The median for all offenses in this district was 48 months, so murder terms were higher than the district overall.
Murder cases were less than 1% of the 4,546 people sentenced in the district across fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
Guilty Pleas Compared With Trials
A total of 16 of 21 (76%) pleaded guilty, and 5 were convicted after a trial. In all districts, 78% pleaded guilty for murder, and in this district, all offenses together had 96%.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 120.5 months. After a trial it was 470 months, based on 5 people. Among the guilty pleas, 75% had a written plea agreement, and 25% were straight pleas with no agreement. The numbers describe small groups and do not show how trials compare with pleas in general.
Which Murder Guidelines Applied?
The most common primary guideline was §2A1.5 (Conspiracy or Solicitation to Commit Murder), with 14 cases. Next was §2A1.1 (First Degree Murder), with 5 cases.
One case each used §2X1.1 (Attempt, Solicitation, or Conspiracy (Not Covered by a Specific Offense Guideline)) and §2A1.2 (Second Degree Murder). The category includes conspiracy and solicitation cases, and not only completed murders.
Guideline Range and Mandatory Minimums
The guideline range is the range calculated under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. For all 21 people, 62% (13) were sentenced within the range. In all districts, 39% were within the range.
A below-range sentence without a government request applied to 33% (7), and one at the government's request applied to 5% (1). No one was above the range. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 4 of the 21 people (19%).
Counts by Year
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 12 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 9 people. The table lists 7 fiscal years, with 1 to 8 people in each. The yearly medians range from 80 months to 470 months, but the counts are too small to show a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1 | 151 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2018 | 3 | 108 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2019 | 8 | 121 months | 8 of 8 |
| 2022 | 1 | 80 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2023 | 2 | 265 months | 1 of 2 |
| 2024 | 1 | 470 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2025 | 5 | 470 months | 1 of 5 |
Supervision, Criminal History, and Installations
All 21 (100%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. One person (5%) received supervised release for life. No fine was ordered, and restitution was ordered for 5 (24%).
In this group, 14% were in the lowest criminal history category, and 5% were in the highest. The court-martial data has no criminal history field.
The district contains Beale AFB, Edwards AFB, and Travis AFB. Military courts, not this federal court, try courts-martial. The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced, so acquittals and dismissals are not in these numbers.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of California (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "California East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Murder" (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.
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 Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of California, 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.