Federal Obscenity and Other Sex Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025
Failure to register as a sex offender was the primary guideline in 10 of the 12 people sentenced under the offense type "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" in the Eastern District of California in fiscal years 2016 to 2023. All 12 pleaded guilty and all 12 received a prison term. The median prison term w
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2 › Obscenity and Other Sex Offense: Eastern District of California
In brief: Failure to register as a sex offender was the primary guideline in 10 of the 12 people sentenced under the offense type "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" in the Eastern District of California in fiscal years 2016 to 2023. All 12 pleaded guilty and all 12 received a prison term. The median prison term was 21 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 12 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 This Offense Type Contains
The U.S. Sentencing Commission uses "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" as a category. In this district, the most common primary guideline was §2A3.5 (Failure to Register as a Sex Offender), with 10 cases. The other was §2G3.1 (Importing, Mailing, or Transporting Obscene Matter), with 2 cases.
These 12 people were less than 1% of the 4,546 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The records for this offense type end at fiscal year 2023.
Prison for All 12
All 12 people (100%) received a prison term, and none received probation only. In all 94 districts, 95% of people in this offense type were sent to prison.
The median prison term was 21 months. A quarter received 15 months or less, and a quarter received 35.2 months or more. The median in all districts was 18 months, and the median for all offenses here was 48 months. The terms are those imposed, not time served.
No Trials
All 12 (100%) pleaded guilty, and none was convicted after a trial. In all districts, 99% pleaded guilty, and for all offenses in this district the share was 96%.
Among the guilty pleas, 83% had a written plea agreement, and 17% were straight pleas with no agreement. No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 12.
Position Against the Guideline Range
The guideline range is calculated under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines for each case. A total of 67% (8) were sentenced within the range. In all districts, 54% were within the range, and in this district, all offenses together had 40%.
A below-range sentence without a government request applied to 25% (3), and one at the government's request applied to 8% (1). No one was above the range.
Supervised Release and Criminal History
All 12 (100%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 60 months. A fine was ordered for 1 (8%), and restitution for 0 (0%).
In this group, 25% were in the lowest criminal history category, and 33% were in the highest. The court-martial data has no criminal history field.
Counts by Fiscal Year
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 6 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 6 people. The table lists 6 fiscal years with 1 to 3 people in each. Counts this small do not show a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1 | 15 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2017 | 2 | 23.5 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2019 | 3 | 21 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2020 | 3 | 15 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2021 | 1 | 36 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2023 | 2 | 36 months | 2 of 2 |
Installations and Limits
Beale AFB, Edwards AFB, and Travis AFB, all in California, are in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal court.
Only convicted and sentenced people are counted, so acquittals and dismissals are not in these numbers.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of California (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "California East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" (12). 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 Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of California, 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.