Federal Other Offense Sentences in the District of Maine, FY2016–2025
The U.S. Sentencing Commission lists 13 people in its offense type "Other" in the District of Maine for fiscal years 2016 to 2024. Of those, 8 received a prison term with a median of 0.5 months, and 5 received probation only. All 13 pleaded guilty.
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In brief: The U.S. Sentencing Commission lists 13 people in its offense type "Other" in the District of Maine for fiscal years 2016 to 2024. Of those, 8 received a prison term with a median of 0.5 months, and 5 received probation only. All 13 pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 13 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 the Category "Other" Means
"Other" is a catch-all offense type used by the Commission for cases that do not fit its named categories. It is not one kind of crime, and the 13 cases in Maine are a mixed group. The most common primary guideline was §2X5.2 (Class A Misdemeanors (Not Covered by Another Specific Offense Guideline)), with 6 cases. Next were §2A5.2 (Interference with Flight Crew Member or Flight Attendant) with 3 cases and §2D2.2 (Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Forgery, Fraud, Deception, or Subterfuge) with 2.
These 13 people were less than 1% of the 1,628 people sentenced in the district over fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
Very Short Prison Terms and Probation
Of the 13 people, 8 (62%) received a prison term, and 5 (38%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 0.5 months. A quarter received 2.8 months or more, and a quarter received 0 months or less.
Across all 94 districts, 9,918 people fall in this offense type, 38% were sent to prison, and the median was 0.2 months. The median for all offenses in Maine was 36 months. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
Guideline Range and Mandatory Minimums
Of the 12 people with the information recorded, 83% (10) were sentenced within the guideline range, and 17% (2) were below the range at the government's request. None was below the range without a government request or above it.
For all offenses in Maine, 30% of sentences were within the range, and for this offense type in all districts it was 90%. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 11 people with that information recorded.
Pleas
All 13 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 31% had a written plea agreement and 69% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 4 people (31%), with a median term of 24 months. A fine was ordered for 3 (23%), and restitution for 3 (23%).
Among the 13 people, 46% were in the lowest criminal history category, category I, and 0% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Counts by Year
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 account for 6 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 account for 7 people. A fiscal year begins on October 1 and ends the following September.
The table lists the years with cases, each with 1 to 4 people. Because the category mixes unlike offenses and the yearly groups are so small, the records cannot support any statement about a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1 | 6 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2017 | 4 | 0.5 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2021 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2022 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2023 | 2 | 0 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2024 | 3 | 3.8 months | 3 of 3 |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of Maine (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Maine") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Other" (13). 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 District of Maine, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of Maine, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of Maine, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of Maine, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Child Pornography Sentences in the District of Maine, 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.