Federal Obscenity and Other Sex Offense Sentences in the District of Maryland, FY2016–2025
From fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 18 people in the District of Maryland were sentenced for obscenity and other sex offenses. Of those, 17 (94%) received a prison term, and the median was 12 months, compared with 18 months for this offense type in all 94 federal districts.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the District of Maryland, FY2016–2025 › Obscenity and Other Sex Offense: District of Maryland
In brief: From fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 18 people in the District of Maryland were sentenced for obscenity and other sex offenses. Of those, 17 (94%) received a prison term, and the median was 12 months, compared with 18 months for this offense type in all 94 federal districts.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 18 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.
A Shorter Median Prison Term Than the Nationwide Figure
The median prison term for the 17 people sent to prison was 12 months. A quarter received 15 months or more, and a quarter received 8 months or less. No one received probation only.
For this offense type in all 94 federal districts, the median was 18 months, and 95% of 3,595 people were sent to prison. For all offenses in the District of Maryland, the median was 48 months.
What Kind of Cases These Are
"Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" is a category used by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, based on the primary guideline in each case. In this district, 15 of the 18 cases used §2A3.5 (Failure to Register as a Sex Offender). One used §2G3.1 (Importing, Mailing, or Transporting Obscene Matter).
These cases were less than 1% of the 6,044 people sentenced in the district in the same period.
Guilty Pleas and Plea Agreements
All 18 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none was convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 94% had a written plea agreement and 6% were straight pleas with no agreement.
For this offense type in all districts, 99% pleaded guilty. The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Dismissals and acquittals are outside it.
Position Against the Guideline Range
In 9 of 18 cases (50%), the sentence was within the guideline range. Another 5 (28%) were below it at the government's request, and 3 (17%) were below it without a request. One sentence (6%) was above the range.
In all districts, 54% of sentences for this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in this district, 31% were. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 18 people with that information recorded.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 16 people (89%), with a median term of 60 months. One person (6%) received supervised release for life. No fine and no restitution was ordered for anyone in the group.
In criminal history, 17% were in the lowest category and 6% in the highest (VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Small Yearly Counts
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 12 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 6. The table lists only years that had cases, and no year had more than 4 people. A trend cannot be read from numbers this small.
Fort Meade and Joint Base Andrews are located in the district. Military trials take place in courts-martial, which are separate from this court. A prison term in this data is the sentence imposed rather than the time served, and nothing here describes the conduct behind any sentence.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 4 | 16 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2017 | 3 | 9 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2018 | 4 | 9 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2019 | 1 | 8 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2020 | 2 | 17.5 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2021 | 2 | 6 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2022 | 1 | 12 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2024 | 1 | 12 months | 1 of 1 |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of Maryland (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Maryland") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" (18). 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.
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 District of Maryland, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of Maryland, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of Maryland, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of Maryland, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of Maryland, 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.