Federal Obscenity and Other Sex Offense Sentences in the Central District of Illinois, FY2016–2025
Of the 20 people sentenced for obscenity and other sex offenses in the Central District of Illinois, 18 had failure to register as a sex offender as the primary guideline. All 20 pleaded guilty and all 20 received a prison term, with a median of 20.5 months. That median is higher than the 18 months
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Central District of Illinois, FY201 › Obscenity and Other Sex Offense: Central District of Illinois
In brief: Of the 20 people sentenced for obscenity and other sex offenses in the Central District of Illinois, 18 had failure to register as a sex offender as the primary guideline. All 20 pleaded guilty and all 20 received a prison term, with a median of 20.5 months. That median is higher than the 18 months for all 94 districts.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 20 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.
What Does This Offense Type Include?
The U.S. Sentencing Commission sorts federal cases into offense types. "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" is the Commission's category, and in this district it is dominated by one guideline. The primary guideline was §2A3.5 (Failure to Register as a Sex Offender) for 18 of the 20 people.
The other 2 cases used §2G3.1 (Importing, Mailing, or Transporting Obscene Matter). The category is therefore not mainly about obscenity charges in this district, and the numbers below mostly describe registration cases.
Prison Terms and Probation
All 20 people (100%) received a prison term, and none received probation only. The median prison term was 20.5 months. A quarter received 27.8 months or more, and a quarter received 15.8 months or less. These are terms imposed, not time served.
For all 94 districts, 95% of people in this offense type were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 18 months. In this district the share sent to prison was higher, and the median was higher.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 2 | 19.5 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2018 | 1 | 16 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2019 | 3 | 18 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2020 | 6 | 16.5 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2022 | 2 | 85.5 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2023 | 3 | 36 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2024 | 1 | 30 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2025 | 2 | 25 months | 2 of 2 |
Guilty Pleas and Plea Agreements
All 20 people pleaded guilty, and none was convicted after a trial. Across all 94 districts, 99% pleaded guilty in this offense type. For all offenses in the Central District of Illinois, the figure is 94%.
Among the guilty pleas, 65% had a written plea agreement and 30% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Only 1 of the 20 people with that information recorded had a mandatory minimum prison term (5%).
How Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range
The guideline range is the range the federal sentencing guidelines calculate for a case. Of the 20 sentences, 14 (70%) were within the range. Another 4 (20%) were below the range without a government request, and 2 (10%) were above the range. None was below the range at the government's request.
Sentences were within the range more often here than the 54% for all districts in this offense type. They were also within the range more often than the 36% for all offenses in this district.
Supervised Release and Criminal History
All 20 people were ordered to serve supervised release after prison. The median term was 60 months. No fine and no restitution was ordered for any of them.
In criminal history, 5% were in the lowest category, category I, and 10% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
How Small Is This Group?
These cases were less than 1% of the 2,440 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. There were 6 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 14 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. The yearly table has 1 to 6 people in each year shown, and the year-to-year medians should be read as small groups, not trends. The median was 85.5 months in 2022, based on 2 people.
The Commission data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it, so the records cannot show how many prosecutions in this category ended without a conviction.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Central District of Illinois (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Illinois Cent") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" (20). 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 Central District of Illinois, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Central District of Illinois, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Central District of Illinois, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Central District of Illinois, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Child Pornography Sentences in the Central District of Illinois, 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.