> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Federal Obscenity and Other Sex Offense Sentences in the District of New Mexico, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-obscenity-other-sex-offenses-sentences-district-of-new-mexico/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:37:33.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:37:33.000Z - Description: 55 people were sentenced for obscenity and other sex offenses in the District of New Mexico in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. All 55 pleaded guilty and received a prison term. The median prison term was 20 months, compared with 18 months for all 94 federal districts. - 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 District of New Mexico, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-district-of-new-mexico/) › Obscenity and Other Sex Offense: District of New Mexico **In brief:** 55 people were sentenced for obscenity and other sex offenses in the District of New Mexico in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. All 55 pleaded guilty and received a prison term. The median prison term was 20 months, compared with 18 months for all 94 federal districts. 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 55 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/). ## Every Case Used One Guideline The Commission's offense type Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses covers several kinds of cases. In this district, §2A3.5 (Failure to Register as a Sex Offender) was the primary guideline in all 55. Nationally, 3,595 people were sentenced in this type. These cases were less than 1% of the 29,766 people sentenced in this district. For all offenses here, the median prison term was 3.5 months. ## Prison Terms Compared With the Nation All 55 people (100%) received a prison term, and none received probation only. Nationally, 95% were sent to prison. Among those sent to prison here, a quarter received 24 months or more, and a quarter received 15 months or less. No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 55 people. ## Pleas and Straight Pleas 55 of 55 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none was convicted after a trial. Among guilty pleas, 73% had a written plea agreement and 27% were straight pleas with no agreement. Nationally, 99% of people in this type pleaded guilty. Because no case went to trial here, the records cannot compare plea sentences with trial sentences. ## Sentences Within the Guideline Range 65% of the people (36) were within the guideline range. 9% (5) were below it at the government's request, and 24% (13) were below it without a request. 1 person (2%) was above it. Nationally, 54% of sentences in this type were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the share was 59%. ## Criminal History and Supervised Release Only 4% of the people were in criminal history category I, the lowest. 13% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. All 55 (100%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 60 months. A fine was ordered for 1 person (2%). Restitution was ordered for 0 (0%). ## Yearly Counts 27 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019, and 28 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. The federal fiscal year starts October 1 and ends the next September. The yearly count was 10 in 2019 and 2025 and 1 in 2024\. The yearly median ran from 10.2 months in 2018 to 24 months in 2025\. With 1 to 10 people per year, the table does not show a trend. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 5 | 16.2 months | 5 of 5 | | 2017 | 7 | 21 months | 7 of 7 | | 2018 | 5 | 10.2 months | 5 of 5 | | 2019 | 10 | 19.5 months | 100% | | 2020 | 5 | 18 months | 5 of 5 | | 2021 | 5 | 21 months | 5 of 5 | | 2022 | 4 | 16.5 months | 4 of 4 | | 2023 | 3 | 20 months | 3 of 3 | | 2024 | 1 | 21 months | 1 of 1 | | 2025 | 10 | 24 months | 100% | ## What the Records Cannot Show Cannon AFB, Holloman AFB, and Kirtland AFB are in this district, and their courts-martial are tried in military courts. These numbers describe federal cases and nothing else. People who were acquitted or whose cases were dismissed are not counted, and the records give no facts about any case. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of New Mexico (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "New Mexico") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" (55). 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](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 District of New Mexico, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-district-of-new-mexico/) (overview) - [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of New Mexico, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-district-of-new-mexico/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of New Mexico, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-district-of-new-mexico/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of New Mexico, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-district-of-new-mexico/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Assault Sentences in the District of New Mexico, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-assault-sentences-district-of-new-mexico/) (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.