Federal Obscenity and Other Sex Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Alabama, FY2016–2025
In the Southern District of Alabama, 37 of the 38 people sentenced for obscenity or other sex offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 were sentenced under the failure-to-register guideline. The median prison term was 15 months, lower than the 18 months for this offense type in all 94 federal districts
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Southern District of Alabama, FY201 › Obscenity and Other Sex Offense: Southern District of Alabama
In brief: In the Southern District of Alabama, 37 of the 38 people sentenced for obscenity or other sex offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 were sentenced under the failure-to-register guideline. The median prison term was 15 months, lower than the 18 months for this offense type in all 94 federal districts. 5 people (13%) received supervised release for life.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 38 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.
Cases Were Mostly Failure to Register
The Sentencing Commission places a case in this category according to its primary guideline. In this district, §2A3.5 (Failure to Register as a Sex Offender) was that guideline for 37 people. The remaining person was sentenced under §2G3.1 (Importing, Mailing, or Transporting Obscene Matter).
Together the 38 people were 1% of the 2,994 people sentenced in this district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
Median Prison Term of 15 Months
37 of the 38 people (97%) were sent to prison. None received probation only. A quarter received 10 months or less, and a quarter received 33 months or more.
The median prison term in all districts for this offense type was 18 months, and 3,595 people were sentenced, with 95% sent to prison. This district's median was lower. The median for all offenses in this district was 41 months.
Supervised Release After Prison
Supervised release was ordered for 37 people (97%), and the median term was 120 months. Lifetime supervised release went to 5 people (13%). One fine (3%) was ordered, and no restitution (0%) was ordered.
How the Cases Were Resolved
Every person pleaded guilty: 38 of 38 (100%). Nobody was convicted after a trial. Of the guilty pleas, 63% came with a written plea agreement, and 37% were straight pleas without one.
Nationally for this offense type, 99% pleaded guilty. In this district across all offenses, 97% did. No mandatory minimum applied to any of the 38 people with that information (0%).
Where Sentences Fell Against the Guideline Range
28 people (74%) were within the guideline range. 7 (18%) were below it without a government request, 2 (5%) were below it at the government's request, and 1 (3%) was above it.
Across all districts, 54% of sentences for this offense type were within the range, so this district's share was higher. The district's share for all offenses was 56%.
Criminal History Categories
Category I, the lowest, held 16% of the people. Category VI, the highest, held 18%. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so there is nothing comparable on that side.
A Decline in Yearly Counts
30 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019, and 8 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. The table shows 18 people in 2016 and 4 or fewer in every later year it lists. The records cannot show why the counts changed.
Yearly medians rest on very few people, such as 6.4 months in 2025 for 1 person, and are not a trend. Each fiscal year starts October 1.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 18 | 21 months | 100% |
| 2017 | 4 | 15 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2018 | 4 | 18 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2019 | 4 | 28.5 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2020 | 3 | 12 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2021 | 1 | 21 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2022 | 1 | 18 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2023 | 2 | 10.5 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2025 | 1 | 6.4 months | 1 of 1 |
Gaps in the Records
Only convicted and sentenced people appear. Acquittals and dismissals do not, and prison terms are the terms imposed rather than time served.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Alabama (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Alabama South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" (38). 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 Southern District of Alabama, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of Alabama, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of Alabama, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of Alabama, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Alabama, 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.