Federal Obscenity and Other Sex Offense Sentences in the Western District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025
In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 23 people were sentenced in the Western District of Tennessee under the Commission's offense type "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses." All 23 received prison, with a median term of 18 months, the same as the median across all 94 federal districts. Of the 23, 21 were sentence
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In brief: In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 23 people were sentenced in the Western District of Tennessee under the Commission's offense type "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses." All 23 received prison, with a median term of 18 months, the same as the median across all 94 federal districts. Of the 23, 21 were sentenced under the guideline for failure to register as a sex offender.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 23 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 Type Mostly Contains
Despite its name, this Commission category is mostly one kind of case in this district. The most common primary guideline was §2A3.5 (Failure to Register as a Sex Offender), with 21 people.
The other guideline in the data was §2G3.1 (Importing, Mailing, or Transporting Obscene Matter), with 2 people. The category is assigned by the primary guideline in each sentence.
These cases were less than 1% of the 4,226 people sentenced in the district in the period.
Prison Terms
All 23 people (100%) received a prison term. The median was 18 months, the same as for all districts together, where 95% were sent to prison.
A quarter received 25.5 months or more, and a quarter received 11 months or less. The district's median for all offenses was 60 months.
No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 23 people.
Plea Agreements Were Less Common
Of the 23 people, 22 (96%) pleaded guilty and 1 was convicted after a trial. That one person's median of 45 months cannot show a pattern.
The median after a guilty plea was 18 months. Among the guilty pleas, 36% had a written plea agreement and 59% were straight pleas with no agreement.
A straight plea means the person pleaded guilty without a written agreement with the government.
Position Against the Guideline Range
The sentence was within the guideline range for 57% of people (13). In all districts, 54% of sentences in this offense type were within the range.
The sentence was below the range at the government's request for 4% (1) and below the range without a government request for 35% (8). One sentence (4%) was above the range.
After Prison and Criminal History
All 23 people were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 60 months. No fine and no restitution was ordered.
The lowest criminal history category, category I, applied to 4% of people. The highest, category VI, applied to 13%.
Fiscal Year Counts
The district sentenced 5 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 18 people in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. Fiscal years run from October 1 through the end of September.
Fiscal year 2024 had 9 people, the most of any year. Other years had 1 to 3, so yearly medians such as 72 months in fiscal year 2023 are not trends.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1 | 30 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2018 | 2 | 9 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2019 | 2 | 16 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2020 | 2 | 16.5 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2021 | 1 | 45 months | 0 of 1 |
| 2022 | 3 | 18 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2023 | 2 | 72 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2024 | 9 | 12 months | 9 of 9 |
| 2025 | 1 | 21 months | 1 of 1 |
What the Records Leave Out
The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Dismissals and acquittals are not included.
Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served. The data does not describe the facts of any case.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Western District of Tennessee (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Tennessee West") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" (23). 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 Western District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Western District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Western District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Western District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Robbery Sentences in the Western District of Tennessee, 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.