Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025
In the Eastern District of Louisiana, 27 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2017 to 2025 under the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type "Other". Of these, 7 (26%) received a prison term and 14 (52%) received probation only. The median prison term for those sent to prison was 18 months.
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In brief: In the Eastern District of Louisiana, 27 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2017 to 2025 under the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type "Other". Of these, 7 (26%) received a prison term and 14 (52%) received probation only. The median prison term for those sent to prison was 18 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 27 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 "Other" Offense Type Covers
"Other" is a catch-all category used by the U.S. Sentencing Commission. It groups cases whose main sentencing guideline does not fit the Commission's named offense types, such as drug trafficking, firearms, or fraud.
Because the category is a collection of unrelated offenses, its totals do not describe one kind of crime. The count here is 27 people sentenced in the Eastern District of Louisiana, which the Commission labels "Louisiana East". These cases were less than 1% of the 2,953 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
Probation Was the Most Common Result
Of the 27 people, 14 (52%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. Another 7 (26%) received a prison term.
Across all 94 federal districts, 9,918 people were sentenced in this offense type, and 38% were sent to prison. The share sent to prison in this district was therefore lower than the national share for the same offense type.
The yearly counts show 21 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 6 people in fiscal years 2020 to 2025.
Prison Terms Among the 7 Sent to Prison
The median prison term for the people sent to prison was 18 months. A quarter received 28 months or more, and a quarter received 10 months or less.
Only 7 people are in this group, so the median and the quartiles move a great deal if one case is added or removed. The national median for the "Other" offense type was 0.2 months, but that figure counts a different mix of cases and cannot be read as a direct comparison with 18 months.
For all offenses in the Eastern District of Louisiana, the median prison term was 60 months. The terms in this offense type were shorter than the district's median for all offenses.
Which Guidelines Were Used?
The most common primary guideline was §2D2.2 (Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Forgery, Fraud, Deception, or Subterfuge), used in 19 cases. Next was §2A5.2 (Interference with Flight Crew Member or Flight Attendant) with 2 cases.
Each of 2 other guidelines was used once: §2D1.12 (Unlawful Possession, Manufacture, Distribution, Transportation, Exportation, or Importation of Prohibited Flask, Equipment, Chemical, Product, or Material) and §2X3.1 (Accessory After the Fact).
Since most cases used one guideline, the district's totals mostly reflect that kind of case.
Pleas, Mandatory Minimums, and the Guideline Range
A total of 26 of 27 people (96%) pleaded guilty, and 1 was convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 73% had a written plea agreement and 27% were straight pleas with no agreement.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 25 people with that information recorded.
For 26 people the sheet records where the sentence fell against the guideline range. A sentence within the range was given to 22 (85%). Sentences below the range were given to 2 people, 1 at the government's request and 1 without it, and 2 (8%) were above the range. For all districts in this offense type, 90% of sentences were within the range.
Other Parts of the Sentence
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 6 people (22%), with a median term of 12 months. A fine was ordered for 5 (19%), and restitution for 2 (7%).
In terms of criminal history, 65% were in the lowest category, category I, and 4% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 5 | 20 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2018 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2019 | 15 | 10 months | 93% |
| 2020 | 5 | 18 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2025 | 1 | 60 months | 1 of 1 |
What the Records Cannot Show
The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
The yearly table lists only the fiscal years that have cases, and several rows have 1 person. Those rows should not be read as trends. The records do not show why one person received probation and another received prison.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Louisiana (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Louisiana East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Other" (27). 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 Eastern District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Louisiana, 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.