Federal Murder Sentences in the Western District of Missouri, FY2016–2025
In the Western District of Missouri, 46 of the 47 people sentenced for murder offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 (98%) received a prison term. The median was 216 months (18 years), compared with 240 months for all 94 federal districts. 10 people received a life sentence.
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In brief: In the Western District of Missouri, 46 of the 47 people sentenced for murder offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 (98%) received a prison term. The median was 216 months (18 years), compared with 240 months for all 94 federal districts. 10 people received a life sentence.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 47 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 the Spread of Terms
10 of the 47 people received a life sentence. Among those sent to prison, a quarter received 470 months or more, and a quarter received 63.8 months or less. The wide gap between those figures shows that terms in this group varied a great deal.
1 person (2%) received probation only. For all districts, more than 99% of the 3,754 people in this offense type were sent to prison.
Trials Compared With Guilty Pleas
38 of 47 people (81%) pleaded guilty, and 9 were convicted after a trial. For all districts, 78% pleaded guilty. For all offenses in this district, the rate was 98%.
The median prison term was 120 months after a guilty plea and 470 months after a trial, based on 9 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. Among guilty pleas, 87% had a written plea agreement and 13% were straight pleas.
Mandatory Minimums and the Guideline Range
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 23 of the 47 people with that information recorded (49%).
Against the guideline range, 36% (17) were sentenced within it. 47% (22) were below it at the government's request, and 15% (7) were below it without a government request. 2% (1) were above it. For all districts, 39% of murder sentences were within the range, and for all offenses in this district, 38% were.
Guidelines in These Cases
Murder is an offense type the U.S. Sentencing Commission assigns from the primary guideline. The most common was §2A1.1 (First Degree Murder), for 32 people. §2A1.2 (Second Degree Murder) was used for 7, §2X3.1 (Accessory After the Fact) for 6, and §2A1.5 (Conspiracy or Solicitation to Commit Murder) for 2.
These 47 cases were less than 1% of the 7,571 people sentenced in the district, where the median prison term for all offenses was 72 months.
Supervised Release, Restitution, and Criminal History
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 45 people (96%), with a median term of 60 months. Restitution was ordered for 10 (21%), and no fine was ordered for any (0%).
In criminal history, 38% were in category I, the lowest, and 30% in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Counts Across Fiscal Years
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 16 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 31. Fiscal year 2024 had 13 people, the most, and 6 and 8 people appear in other years. Several years had 1 or 2 people.
The yearly medians range from 12 months to 470 months. The 470-month median in fiscal year 2018 is based on 8 people, and 4 of them pleaded guilty. The records cannot show why yearly figures differ.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 6 | 81 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2017 | 1 | 48 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2018 | 8 | 470 months | 4 of 8 |
| 2019 | 1 | 96 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2020 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2021 | 1 | 12 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2022 | 2 | 164.5 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2023 | 8 | 221 months | 6 of 8 |
| 2024 | 13 | 240 months | 77% |
| 2025 | 6 | 246 months | 6 of 6 |
What the Data Omits
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are not, and prison terms are those imposed, not served.
Fort Leonard Wood and Whiteman AFB are in this district. Their courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal court.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Western District of Missouri (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Missouri West") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Murder" (47). 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 Western District of Missouri, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Western District of Missouri, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Western District of Missouri, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Western District of Missouri, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Child Pornography Sentences in the Western District of Missouri, 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.