Federal Murder Sentences in the Northern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025
Only 18% of the 67 murder sentences in the Northern District of Indiana in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 were within the guideline range, and 60% were below the range at the government's request. All 67 people received a prison term, with a median of 235 months (19.6 years). 7 received a life sentence.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Northern District of Indiana, FY201 › Murder: Northern District of Indiana
In brief: Only 18% of the 67 murder sentences in the Northern District of Indiana in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 were within the guideline range, and 60% were below the range at the government's request. All 67 people received a prison term, with a median of 235 months (19.6 years). 7 received a life sentence.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 67 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.
Most Sentences Were Below the Guideline Range
The guideline range is the range produced by the Commission's rules for each case. In these 67 cases, 18% (12 people) were sentenced within the range. Another 60% (40 people) were below it at the government's request, and 21% (14 people) were below it without a request. One person (1%) was above it.
In all 94 districts, 39% of murder sentences were within the range. For all offenses in the Northern District of Indiana, the figure was 47%. The within-range share for murder here was lower than both.
Prison Terms and Life Sentences
The Commission's "Murder" offense type had 67 people in the district, which was 2% of the 3,085 people sentenced there. All 67 (100%) received a prison term. None received probation only.
The median prison term was 235 months. A quarter received 348 months or more, and a quarter received 162 months or less. The national median was 240 months. 7 people received a life sentence.
For all offenses in the district, the median was 51 months.
Guilty Pleas and Trials
A total of 56 people (84%) pleaded guilty, and 11 were convicted after a trial. Nationally, 78% pleaded guilty, so the district's share was higher. Among the guilty pleas, 95% had a written plea agreement and 5% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The median prison term was 213 months after a guilty plea and 470 months after a trial. The trial figure is based on 11 people. The records do not show how the cases differed, so the gap cannot be read as the effect of a trial alone.
The Guidelines in This Category
The most common primary guideline was §2A1.1 (First Degree Murder), with 59 people. 3 people were sentenced under §2X3.1 (Accessory After the Fact), 3 under §2A1.5 (Conspiracy or Solicitation to Commit Murder), and 2 under §2A1.2 (Second Degree Murder).
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 24 of the 66 people with that information recorded (36%).
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2 | 13.5 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2017 | 5 | 264 months | 4 of 5 |
| 2018 | 10 | 180 months | 100% |
| 2019 | 9 | 324 months | 8 of 9 |
| 2020 | 10 | 196 months | 80% |
| 2021 | 7 | 264 months | 5 of 7 |
| 2022 | 8 | 288 months | 8 of 8 |
| 2023 | 4 | 348 months | 3 of 4 |
| 2024 | 6 | 267.5 months | 4 of 6 |
| 2025 | 6 | 260 months | 4 of 6 |
Supervised Release, Restitution, and Criminal History
All 67 people (100%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, and the median term was 24 months. No fine was ordered. Restitution was ordered for 6 people (9%).
In criminal history, 27% were in the lowest category, category I, and 6% were in the highest, category VI.
Small Yearly Counts
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 26 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 41 people. Yearly counts run from 2 people to 10 people. The yearly median was 13.5 months in fiscal year 2016 and 348 months in fiscal year 2023, but each rests on very few people.
The data covers only people who were convicted and sentenced. Prison terms are those imposed, not time served, and the records do not describe individual cases.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of Indiana (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Indiana North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Murder" (67). 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 Northern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Robbery Sentences in the Northern District of Indiana, 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.