Federal Murder Sentences in the Southern District of Alabama, FY2016–2025
All 14 people sentenced in the Southern District of Alabama in the "Murder" offense type in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term, and 3 of them received a life sentence. The median prison term was 130 months (10.8 years). The median for all 94 federal districts was 240 months.
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In brief: All 14 people sentenced in the Southern District of Alabama in the "Murder" offense type in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term, and 3 of them received a life sentence. The median prison term was 130 months (10.8 years). The median for all 94 federal districts was 240 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 14 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 and Life Sentences
All 14 people (100%) were sent to prison. A life sentence was imposed on 3. Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 130 months, which is 10.8 years.
A quarter received 345 months or more, and a quarter received 82.5 months or less. For all offenses in this district, the median prison term was 41 months. In all 94 districts, 3,754 people were sentenced in this offense type, and more than 99% were sent to prison.
A Mix of Murder Guidelines
The Commission's "Murder" category groups cases by main sentencing guideline. The most common here was §2A1.1 (First Degree Murder), with 6 cases.
Next was §2A1.5 (Conspiracy or Solicitation to Commit Murder), with 5 cases, followed by §2A1.2 (Second Degree Murder), with 3 cases. Prison terms depend heavily on which guideline applies, and the group is too small to separate them.
Trials Were More Common Than in Most Offense Types
Of the 14 people, 9 (64%) pleaded guilty and 5 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 120 months. After a trial it was 300 months, based on 5 people.
Across all 94 districts, 78% of people in this offense type pleaded guilty. For all offenses in this district the figure was 97%. All 9 guilty pleas had a written plea agreement.
Mandatory Minimums and the Guideline Range
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 5 of the 14 people, which is 36%. The court generally cannot sentence below a mandatory minimum.
Sentences were within the guideline range for 43% of the group (6 people) and below the range at the government's request for 43% (6 people). In 2 cases (14%), the sentence was below the range without a request, and none were above it. Across all 94 districts, 39% of sentences in this offense type were within the range.
Supervised Release, Restitution, and Criminal History
Supervised release after prison was ordered for all 14 people (100%), with a median term of 36 months. No fines were ordered, and restitution was ordered for 4 people (29%).
In criminal history, 36% were in the lowest category and 7% in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Most Cases Came in One Fiscal Year
Murder cases were less than 1% of the 2,994 people sentenced in this district. Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 2 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 12 people.
Fiscal year 2025 alone had 9 people, 5 of whom pleaded guilty. Other years with data had 1 or 2 people each. A single busy year does not make a trend, and the table lists only years that had cases.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2 | 151 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2020 | 1 | 120 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2022 | 1 | 300 months | 0 of 1 |
| 2023 | 1 | 120 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2025 | 9 | 120 months | 5 of 9 |
What the Records Cannot Tell
The Commission's data includes only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
The records do not show the facts of any case or the reasons for a sentence. This post reports federal numbers on their own.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Alabama (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Alabama South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Murder" (14). 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 Southern District of Alabama, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of Alabama, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of Alabama, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of Alabama, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Alabama, 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.