Federal Obscenity and Other Sex Offense Sentences in the District of North Dakota, FY2016–2025
In the District of North Dakota, 50 people were sentenced under the Commission's "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" type in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 49 of them had the same primary guideline: §2A3.5 (Failure to Register as a Sex Offender). The median prison term was 14.5 months, lower than the 18
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the District of North Dakota, FY2016–20 › Obscenity and Other Sex Offense: District of North Dakota
In brief: In the District of North Dakota, 50 people were sentenced under the Commission's "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" type in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 49 of them had the same primary guideline: §2A3.5 (Failure to Register as a Sex Offender). The median prison term was 14.5 months, lower than the 18 months for this type across all 94 districts. All 50 pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 50 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.
Mostly Failure-to-Register Cases
The offense type is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's category, and its name does not describe every case in it. Here, 49 cases used §2A3.5 (Failure to Register as a Sex Offender). One used §2G3.1 (Importing, Mailing, or Transporting Obscene Matter).
These cases were 1% of the 3,337 people sentenced in the district.
Prison Terms
Of the 50 people, 48 (96%) received a prison term. None received probation only (0%). The median prison term was 14.5 months. A quarter received 9.8 months or less, and a quarter received 24.8 months or more.
Across all 94 districts, 95% of people in this type were sent to prison, and the median was 18 months. For all offenses in the District of North Dakota, the median was 36 months. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
Criminal History Categories
Only 2% of the people were in the lowest criminal history category, category I. In the highest, category VI, were 10%. The Commission's categories run from category I to category VI.
Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so this measure has no military counterpart in this site's data.
Every Person Pleaded Guilty
All 50 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none was convicted after a trial. The rate was 99% across all 94 districts for this type and 97% for all offenses in the district.
Among guilty pleas, 98% had a written plea agreement and 2% were straight pleas with no agreement. No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 50 people (0%).
Position Against the Guideline Range
The sentence was within the guideline range for 23 people (46%). It was below the range without a government request for 15 people (30%), and below it at the government's request for 12 people (24%). None was above the range (0%).
The within-range share was 54% across all 94 districts for this type and 34% for all offenses in the district.
Supervised Release and Financial Orders
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 49 people (98%), with a median term of 60 months. No fine and no restitution was ordered for anyone (0%).
Counts by Fiscal Year
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 account for 13 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 account for 37 people. A fiscal year starts on October 1 and ends the following September.
The yearly counts range from 2 people in 2019 to 9 people in 2023. The 2023 median of 6.3 months and the 2022 median of 24 months each come from 9 or fewer people, so they are not trends.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 4 | 16 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2017 | 4 | 15.5 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2018 | 3 | 18 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2019 | 2 | 10.5 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2020 | 6 | 18.5 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2021 | 4 | 12 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2022 | 5 | 24 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2023 | 9 | 6.3 months | 9 of 9 |
| 2024 | 6 | 12 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2025 | 7 | 13.5 months | 7 of 7 |
What the Records Leave Out
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, and no facts of any case are given.
Grand Forks AFB and Minot AFB, both in North Dakota, are in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, and these federal numbers are reported by themselves.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of North Dakota (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "North Dakota") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" (50). 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 North Dakota, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of North Dakota, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of North Dakota, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of North Dakota, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Assault Sentences in the District of North Dakota, 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.