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# Federal Obscenity and Other Sex Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-obscenity-other-sex-offenses-sentences-eastern-district-of-north-carolina/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:32:54.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:32:53.000Z
- Description: In the Eastern District of North Carolina, 27 people were sentenced for obscenity and other sex offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 26 of them were sentenced under the guideline for failure to register as a sex offender. 25 (93%) received a prison term, with a median of 24 months (2 years).
- 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 Eastern District of North Carolina,](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-north-carolina/) › Obscenity and Other Sex Offense: Eastern District of North Carolina

**In brief:** In the Eastern District of North Carolina, 27 people were sentenced for obscenity and other sex offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 26 of them were sentenced under the guideline for failure to register as a sex offender. 25 (93%) received a prison term, with a median of 24 months (2 years).

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 27 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/).

## Failure to Register Was the Main Guideline

The U.S. Sentencing Commission groups cases by primary guideline into offense types, and this type is called Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses. In this district, 26 of the 27 people were sentenced under §2A3.5 (Failure to Register as a Sex Offender).

These 27 cases were less than 1% of the 7,801 people sentenced in the district over the same period.

## Prison Terms

25 of the 27 people (93%) received a prison term, and 2 (7%) received probation only. For all 94 federal districts, 95% of the 3,595 people in this offense type were sent to prison.

The median prison term here was 24 months. A quarter received 30 months or more, and a quarter received 12.2 months or less. For all districts, the median was 18 months. For all offenses in this district, the median was 60 months.

## Plea Agreements Were Uncommon

All 27 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none were convicted after a trial. For all districts, 99% pleaded guilty.

Among the guilty pleas, only 19% had a written plea agreement, and 81% were straight pleas with no agreement. A straight plea means the person pleaded guilty without a deal with the prosecutor.

## Guideline Range and Mandatory Minimums

The range was recorded for all 27 people. 63% (17) were sentenced within it, and 33% (9) were below it without a government request. 4% (1) were above it. None were below the range at the government's request.

For all districts, 54% of sentences in this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in this district, 56% were. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 27 people with that information recorded (4%).

## Long Supervised Release and No Money Orders

Supervised release after prison was ordered for 25 people (93%). The median term was 60 months, and 1 person (4%) received supervised release for life.

No fine was ordered for any of the 27 (0%), and no restitution (0%). Criminal history category I, the lowest, applied to 12%, and category VI, the highest, to 15%. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

## Counts by Fiscal Year

Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 12 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 15\. Fiscal year 2017 had the most, with 6, and fiscal year 2024 had 1, with a listed median of 0 months. The federal fiscal year starts on October 1 of the prior calendar year.

Every year has between 1 and 6 people, so the yearly medians should not be read as a trend.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 2                | 22.5 months   | 2 of 2         |
| 2017        | 6                | 27 months     | 6 of 6         |
| 2018        | 2                | 11 months     | 2 of 2         |
| 2019        | 2                | 12.1 months   | 2 of 2         |
| 2020        | 2                | 17.2 months   | 2 of 2         |
| 2021        | 4                | 32.5 months   | 4 of 4         |
| 2022        | 3                | 31 months     | 3 of 3         |
| 2023        | 2                | 19 months     | 2 of 2         |
| 2024        | 1                | 0 months      | 1 of 1         |
| 2025        | 3                | 21 months     | 3 of 3         |

## What the Records Leave Out

Acquittals and dismissals are missing because the Commission records only people who were sentenced. Prison terms here are those the court imposed, not time served.

Military courts, not this federal court, try courts-martial. The 4 installations in the district that appear in this site's court-martial data are Camp Lejeune, Fort Bragg, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, and Seymour Johnson AFB.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of North Carolina (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "N Carolina East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" (27). 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](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 Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-north-carolina/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-eastern-district-of-north-carolina/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-eastern-district-of-north-carolina/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-other-sentences-eastern-district-of-north-carolina/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-eastern-district-of-north-carolina/) (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.