Federal Obscenity and Other Sex Offense Sentences in the Northern District of Iowa, FY2016–2025
In the Northern District of Iowa, 26 of the 27 people sentenced for obscenity and other sex offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 had failure to register as a sex offender as the primary guideline. The median prison term was 24 months, compared with 18 months for all 94 federal districts.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Northern District of Iowa, FY2016–2 › Obscenity and Other Sex Offense: Northern District of Iowa
In brief: In the Northern District of Iowa, 26 of the 27 people sentenced for obscenity and other sex offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 had failure to register as a sex offender as the primary guideline. The median prison term was 24 months, compared with 18 months for all 94 federal districts.
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 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
"Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type. In this district, the primary guideline was §2A3.5 (Failure to Register as a Sex Offender) for 26 of the 27 people. The other person had §2G3.1 (Importing, Mailing, or Transporting Obscene Matter).
The group was less than 1% of the 3,479 people sentenced in the district over the period. Because nearly all of the cases involve one guideline, the numbers below mostly describe registration cases, not obscenity cases.
Prison Terms Compared With Other Groups
All 27 people (100%) received a prison term. The median was 24 months (2 years). A quarter received 30 months or more, and a quarter received 15.5 months or less.
Across all districts, the Commission counts 3,595 people in this category. Of those, 95% went to prison, and the median was 18 months. All offenses in the Northern District of Iowa had a median of 60 months. The figures are sentences imposed, not time served.
Guideline Range and Mandatory Minimums
A total of 59% (16) were sentenced within the guideline range. Another 7% (2) were below it at the government's request, and 15% (4) were below it without a request. 19% (5) were above the range.
The all-district share within the range was 54%, and for all offenses in this district it was 53%. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 27 people (0%).
Pleas
A total of 26 people (96%) pleaded guilty, and 1 person was convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 24 months. The trial figure in the data is 0 months for that one person, so it cannot be compared with the plea figure.
Among guilty pleas, 35% had a written plea agreement, and 65% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Supervised Release and Criminal History
Supervised release after prison was ordered for all 27 people (100%), with a median term of 60 months. A fine was ordered for 1 (4%), and no restitution was ordered (0).
In criminal history, 4% were in the lowest category I and 33% were in the highest category VI. Military records have no matching criminal history field, so no court-martial comparison is made here.
Counts by Fiscal Year
The group has 12 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 15 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. Yearly counts are from 1 to 6, and the table has no row for 2024. The median was 27 months in 2019 and 30 months in 2025.
Counts this small do not show a trend. Fiscal years begin October 1. The records give no reason for the yearly differences, and they count only people who were convicted and sentenced.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1 | 10 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2017 | 2 | 6 months | 1 of 2 |
| 2018 | 3 | 15 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2019 | 6 | 27 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2020 | 3 | 29 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2021 | 5 | 24 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2022 | 3 | 30 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2023 | 3 | 24 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2025 | 1 | 30 months | 1 of 1 |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of Iowa (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Iowa North") 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.
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 Northern District of Iowa, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of Iowa, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of Iowa, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Northern District of Iowa, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of Iowa, 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.