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# Federal Obscenity and Other Sex Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-obscenity-other-sex-offenses-sentences-eastern-district-of-virginia/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:33:43.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:33:43.000Z
- Description: In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 32 people were sentenced in the Eastern District of Virginia in the Sentencing Commission's "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" category. Of the 32, 31 (97%) received a prison term, with a median of 18 months. Most of these cases were sentenced under a guideline for failure
- 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 Virginia, FY201](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-virginia/) › Obscenity and Other Sex Offense: Eastern District of Virginia

**In brief:** In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 32 people were sentenced in the Eastern District of Virginia in the Sentencing Commission's "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" category. Of the 32, 31 (97%) received a prison term, with a median of 18 months. Most of these cases were sentenced under a guideline for failure to register as a sex offender.

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 32 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/).

## What Cases Fall in This Category

The category is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's own grouping, and its name is broader than the cases in this district. The most common primary guideline was §2A3.5 (Failure to Register as a Sex Offender), with 24 people. The next was §2G3.1 (Importing, Mailing, or Transporting Obscene Matter), with 8.

These cases were less than 1% of the 10,381 people sentenced in the district over the period.

## Prison Terms

Of the 32 people, 31 (97%) received a prison term, and 0 received probation only. The median prison term was 18 months. A quarter received 33 months or more, and a quarter received 12 months or less.

The median for this offense type across all 94 districts was also 18 months, and 95% of the 3,595 people were sent to prison. For all offenses in this district, the median was 46 months. The figures are terms imposed, not time served.

## Supervised Release and Fines

Supervised release after prison was ordered for 31 people (97%), and the median term was 60 months. Among the 32 people, a fine was ordered for 2 (6%) and restitution for 0.

On criminal history, 25% of the people were in the lowest category and 19% were in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

## Pleas and Plea Agreements

Guilty pleas made up 31 of 32 cases (97%), and 1 person was convicted after a trial. For all districts the guilty plea share was 99%, and for all offenses in this district it was 96%.

Among the guilty pleas, 48% had a written plea agreement and 52% were straight pleas with no agreement. The records do not show why 52% of the pleas had no agreement. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 32 people.

## Position Against the Guideline Range

Of the 32 people, 41% (13) were sentenced within the guideline range and 41% (13) were below it without a government request. Another 9% (3) were below the range at the government's request, and 9% (3) were above it.

The within-range share was 54% for all districts and 60% for all offenses in this district. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 18 months. After a trial it was 75 months, but that is based on 1 person.

## Counts by Fiscal Year

The district sentenced 6 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 26 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. The fiscal year runs from October 1 through the end of September. The largest yearly count was 9 people, in 2025.

Most years have 1 to 3 people, and 2017 has no row. These counts are small and do not show a trend.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 2                | 29.5 months   | 2 of 2         |
| 2018        | 3                | 30 months     | 3 of 3         |
| 2019        | 1                | n/a           | 1 of 1         |
| 2020        | 2                | 30 months     | 2 of 2         |
| 2021        | 3                | 13 months     | 3 of 3         |
| 2022        | 3                | 13 months     | 3 of 3         |
| 2023        | 7                | 18 months     | 6 of 7         |
| 2024        | 2                | 18 months     | 2 of 2         |
| 2025        | 9                | 18 months     | 9 of 9         |

## Limits of the Records

Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, and the conduct in each case is not described.

Fort Lee, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Marine Corps Base Quantico, and Norfolk are in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal district court.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Virginia East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" (32). 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 Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-virginia/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-eastern-district-of-virginia/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-other-sentences-eastern-district-of-virginia/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-eastern-district-of-virginia/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-eastern-district-of-virginia/) (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.