Federal Obscenity and Other Sex Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Florida, FY2016–2025
In the Southern District of Florida, 40 people were sentenced in the Sentencing Commission's "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" category in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 38 of them (95%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 22.5 months, compared with 18 months in all 94 federal districts
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Southern District of Florida, FY201 › Obscenity and Other Sex Offense: Southern District of Florida
In brief: In the Southern District of Florida, 40 people were sentenced in the Sentencing Commission's "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" category in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 38 of them (95%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 22.5 months, compared with 18 months in all 94 federal districts together.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 40 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.
What This Offense Category Contains
The category is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" offense type. In this district, most of the cases were not about obscene material. The most common primary guideline was §2A3.5 (Failure to Register as a Sex Offender), with 34 of the 40 people.
The next most common was §2G3.1 (Importing, Mailing, or Transporting Obscene Matter), with 4 people. The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it.
These cases were less than 1% of the 17,081 people sentenced in the district in the same years.
Prison Terms
Of the 40 people, 38 (95%) received a prison term and 1 (3%) received probation only. The median prison term was 22.5 months. A quarter received 30 months or more, and a quarter received 15 months or less.
Across all 94 districts, 3,595 people were sentenced in this category, 95% were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 18 months. For all offenses in this district, the median prison term was 32 months.
The terms are the sentences imposed, not the time served.
Pleas and Trials
38 of the 40 people (95%) pleaded guilty, and 2 were convicted after a trial. The guilty plea rate in all 94 districts for this category was 99%.
The median prison term was 22.5 months after a guilty plea and 33 months after a trial. The trial figure is based on only 2 people, so it says little about trials in general.
Among the guilty pleas, 66% had a written plea agreement and 34% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range
The guideline range is the sentencing range calculated under the federal guidelines. 24 sentences (63%) were within it. 1 (3%) was below the range at the government's request, and 9 (24%) were below the range without a government request. 4 (11%) were above the range.
Across all 94 districts, 54% of sentences in this category were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the figure was 55%.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 40 people.
Criminal History and Supervision
21% of the people were in the lowest criminal history category, and 26% were in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so there is no military figure to set beside this one.
38 people (95%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison. The median term was 60 months, and 2 people (5%) received supervised release for life. No fine and no restitution was ordered for anyone.
Cases by Fiscal Year
23 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019, and 17 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. The yearly counts in the table range from 1 to 8 people, which is small. In fiscal years 2024 and 2025 there was 1 person in each year.
The table does not show a trend, and the records do not show why the counts changed.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 4 | 12.1 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2017 | 5 | 27 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2018 | 6 | 25.5 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2019 | 8 | 22.5 months | 8 of 8 |
| 2020 | 6 | 19.5 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2022 | 5 | 12 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2023 | 4 | 15 months | 3 of 4 |
| 2024 | 1 | 60 months | 0 of 1 |
| 2025 | 1 | 46 months | 1 of 1 |
Limits of These Numbers
The figures describe people who were sentenced. They do not show how many people were charged or how many cases ended in dismissal or acquittal. They also do not describe the facts of any case, so a sentence cannot be tied to a particular kind of conduct beyond the guideline listed.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Florida (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Florida South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" (40). 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 Florida, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of Florida, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Florida, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of Florida, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of Florida, 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.