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# Federal Obscenity and Other Sex Offense Sentences in the Northern District of New York, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-obscenity-other-sex-offenses-sentences-northern-district-of-new-york/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:59:55.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:59:55.000Z
- Description: In the Northern District of New York, 46 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under the U.S. Sentencing Commission's "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" type. All 46 pleaded guilty and all 46 received a prison term. The median prison term was 18.3 months, close to the 18 months for the same
- 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 Northern District of New York, FY20](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-northern-district-of-new-york/) › Obscenity and Other Sex Offense: Northern District of New York

**In brief:** In the Northern District of New York, 46 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under the U.S. Sentencing Commission's "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" type. All 46 pleaded guilty and all 46 received a prison term. The median prison term was 18.3 months, close to the 18 months for the same type in all 94 districts.

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 46 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/).

## A Small Group With No Trials

This offense type is small in the district. It covers 46 people, which is 1% of the 3,763 people sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025.

All 46 pleaded guilty, and none was convicted after a trial. Across all 94 districts, 99% pleaded guilty. All 46 received a prison term, compared with 95% across all districts.

With no trials and no probation-only sentences, the district has no comparison group inside this offense type.

## Prison Terms

The median prison term was 18.3 months. A quarter received 30 months or more, and a quarter received 15 months or less. For all districts, the median was 18 months, so the figures are about the same.

The median for all offenses in the district was 24 months, which is higher than the median for this offense type.

## What the Cases Were

The Commission assigns each case an offense type based on its primary guideline. Here, 44 of the 46 people were sentenced under §2A3.5 (Failure to Register as a Sex Offender). The remaining 2 were sentenced under §2G3.1 (Importing, Mailing, or Transporting Obscene Matter).

The type's name suggests obscenity cases, but in this district nearly all of the cases involve registration.

## Sentences Against the Guideline Range

A total of 38 sentences (83%) were within the guideline range. That is a much higher share than the 54% for this offense type in all districts, and the 53% for all offenses in the district.

A total of 7 sentences (15%) were below the range without a government request, and 1 (2%) was above it. None was below the range at the government's request.

No mandatory minimum applied to any of the 46 people.

## Pleas, Supervised Release, and Orders

Among the guilty pleas, 46% had a written plea agreement and 54% were straight pleas with no agreement.

Supervised release followed prison for 45 people (98%), with a median term of 60 months. In 2 cases (4%), people received supervised release for life. No fine and no restitution was ordered in any case.

On criminal history, 2% were in the lowest category, category I, and 11% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

## Counts by Fiscal Year

Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 11 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 35\. Yearly counts range from 1 to 8, and fiscal year 2018 does not appear in the table.

At most 8 people were sentenced in any year, so the yearly medians are not reliable measures of change.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 8                | 22.5 months   | 8 of 8         |
| 2017        | 2                | 15.5 months   | 2 of 2         |
| 2019        | 1                | 18 months     | 1 of 1         |
| 2020        | 3                | 13 months     | 3 of 3         |
| 2021        | 7                | 18 months     | 7 of 7         |
| 2022        | 7                | 18 months     | 7 of 7         |
| 2023        | 8                | 21 months     | 8 of 8         |
| 2024        | 7                | 10 months     | 7 of 7         |
| 2025        | 3                | 21 months     | 3 of 3         |

## Limits of the Records

The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced, and prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served. Fort Drum, New York, is in this district, but courts-martial are tried in military courts and not in this federal court.

The records do not show the facts of any case.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of New York (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "New York North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" (46). 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 Northern District of New York, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-northern-district-of-new-york/) (overview)
- [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Northern District of New York, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-northern-district-of-new-york/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of New York, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-northern-district-of-new-york/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of New York, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-northern-district-of-new-york/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of New York, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-northern-district-of-new-york/) (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.