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# Federal Murder Sentences in the Southern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-murder-sentences-southern-district-of-indiana/
- Published: 2026-11-04T11:05:49.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T11:05:48.000Z
- Description: 17 people were sentenced for murder offenses in the Southern District of Indiana in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and all 17 received a prison term. The median prison term was 470 months (39.2 years), and 5 people received a life sentence. For all 94 federal districts, the median was 240 months.
- 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 Southern District of Indiana, FY201](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-southern-district-of-indiana/) › Murder: Southern District of Indiana

**In brief:** 17 people were sentenced for murder offenses in the Southern District of Indiana in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and all 17 received a prison term. The median prison term was 470 months (39.2 years), and 5 people received a life sentence. For all 94 federal districts, the median 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 17 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/).

## Life Sentences and Long Terms

All 17 people (100%) were sent to prison. 5 of them received a life sentence.

The median prison term was 470 months. A quarter received 470 months or more, and a quarter received 360 months or less. The median for all 94 districts was 240 months, so the median here was higher. For all offenses in this district, the median was 70 months.

The terms listed are sentences imposed. With only 17 people, a few cases can change the district figures.

## Which Murder Guidelines Applied?

Murder is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type. The most common primary guideline was §2A1.1 (First Degree Murder), with 10 people. §2A1.2 (Second Degree Murder) applied to 5 people, and §2A1.5 (Conspiracy or Solicitation to Commit Murder) to 1 person.

## Pleas Compared With All Districts

14 of 17 people (82%) pleaded guilty, and 3 were convicted after a trial. For all 94 districts, 78% pleaded guilty, so the plea rate here was about the same.

The median prison term was 417.5 months after a guilty plea and 470 months after a trial. The trial figure is based on 3 people. Among those who pleaded guilty, 86% had a written plea agreement and 14% were straight pleas with no agreement.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 2                | 415 months    | 2 of 2         |
| 2018        | 1                | 180 months    | 1 of 1         |
| 2019        | 2                | 415 months    | 2 of 2         |
| 2020        | 1                | 228 months    | 0 of 1         |
| 2022        | 1                | 360 months    | 1 of 1         |
| 2023        | 3                | 470 months    | 3 of 3         |
| 2024        | 1                | 470 months    | 1 of 1         |
| 2025        | 6                | 470 months    | 4 of 6         |

## Guideline Range and Mandatory Minimums

59% of sentences (10 people) were within the advisory guideline range. 18% (3 people) were below the range without a government request, and 6% (1 person) were below it at the government's request. 18% (3 people) were above the range.

The within-range share was 39% for murder in all 94 districts and 43% for every offense in this district. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 7 of the 17 people (41%).

## Supervision, Fines, and Criminal History

11 people (65%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison. The median term was 36 months. A fine was ordered for 6 people (35%), and restitution for 8 (47%).

29% had the lowest criminal history score (category I), and 41% had the highest (category VI). The court-martial records have no equivalent field.

## Counts by Year

5 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 12 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. Yearly counts range from 1 to 6 people. Fiscal year 2025 has the most, with 6.

Murder cases were less than 1% of the 4,205 people sentenced in this district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. No trend can be read from counts this small.

## What the Records Cannot Show

Acquittals and dismissals are outside this data, which lists only convictions. Nothing here describes the facts of a case or names the statute charged.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Indiana (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Indiana South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Murder" (17). 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 Southern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-southern-district-of-indiana/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-southern-district-of-indiana/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-southern-district-of-indiana/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-southern-district-of-indiana/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Robbery Sentences in the Southern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-robbery-sentences-southern-district-of-indiana/) (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.