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# Federal Murder Sentences in the Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-murder-sentences-eastern-district-of-texas/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:34:44.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:34:44.000Z
- Description: In the Eastern District of Texas, 19 people were sentenced for murder offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Every one received a prison term, and the median was 360 months (30 years). Life sentences were given to 3 people. Across all 94 federal districts, the median prison term for murder was 240 m
- 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 Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-texas/) › Murder: Eastern District of Texas

**In brief:** In the Eastern District of Texas, 19 people were sentenced for murder offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. Every one received a prison term, and the median was 360 months (30 years). Life sentences were given to 3 people. Across all 94 federal districts, the median prison term for murder was 240 months.

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 19 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/).

## Most Murder Cases Here Ended in Guilty Pleas

Of the 19 people, 17 (89%) pleaded guilty and 2 were convicted after a trial. In all 94 districts, 78% of murder cases ended in a guilty plea, so the rate in this district is higher.

The median prison term was 360 months after a guilty plea and 470 months after a trial. Only 2 people were convicted at trial, so that second number describes a very small group. In 94% of the guilty pleas there was a written plea agreement, and 6% were straight pleas.

## Median of 360 Months and a Wide Top End

The 360-month median is the middle of the 19 prison terms. A quarter of the group received 470 months or more, and a quarter received 360 months or less. 3 people received life sentences.

After prison, supervised release was ordered for all 19 people, with a median term of 60 months. Restitution was ordered for 4 people (21%) and no one was fined. A mandatory minimum applied to 2 of the 19 (11%).

## Placing the District Beside the Nation

The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 3,754 people sentenced for murder in all districts. More than 99% went to prison, and the median was 240 months. This district's median of 360 months is higher.

Murder was a small part of the district's work. The Commission lists 7,998 people sentenced here for all offenses, and the 19 murder cases are less than 1% of them. For all offenses together, the district's median prison term was 64.5 months.

## Primary Guidelines

The Commission's "Murder" category is defined by the guideline the court applied first. For 17 people it was §2A1.1 (First Degree Murder). One person's primary guideline was §2A1.2 (Second Degree Murder), and another's was §2X3.1 (Accessory After the Fact).

## Sentences and the Calculated Range

Each case has a guideline range worked out under the Commission's manual. 9 people (47%) were sentenced inside that range. For 7 (37%), the sentence was below the range and the government had asked for that. 1 person (5%) was below the range without such a request, and 2 (11%) were above it.

Sentences inside the range were 39% of murder cases in all districts and 64% of all offenses in this district.

## Criminal History and Fiscal Years

Criminal history categories run from the lowest to the highest. In this group, 5% were in the lowest and 42% in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so there is nothing to match this to.

The district sentenced 6 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 13 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. Fiscal year 2025 alone had 9 people. Other years in the table have 1 or 2, so the yearly medians show no trend.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 2                | 415 months    | 2 of 2         |
| 2017        | 2                | 415 months    | 2 of 2         |
| 2018        | 1                | 470 months    | 0 of 1         |
| 2019        | 1                | 470 months    | 1 of 1         |
| 2020        | 1                | 360 months    | 1 of 1         |
| 2021        | 1                | 180 months    | 1 of 1         |
| 2023        | 2                | 325 months    | 1 of 2         |
| 2025        | 9                | 360 months    | 9 of 9         |

## Limits of the Data

Only sentenced defendants are counted. Anyone acquitted or whose case was dismissed does not appear. The records give no reasons for any sentence and say nothing about the facts of a case.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Texas East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Murder" (19). 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 Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-texas/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-eastern-district-of-texas/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-eastern-district-of-texas/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-eastern-district-of-texas/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-eastern-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.