Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Middle District of Alabama, FY2016–2025
54 people were sentenced in the "Other" offense type in the Middle District of Alabama in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 44 (81%) received probation only, and 7 (13%) received a prison term. The median prison term for those 7 people was 2 months.
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In brief: 54 people were sentenced in the "Other" offense type in the Middle District of Alabama in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 44 (81%) received probation only, and 7 (13%) received a prison term. The median prison term for those 7 people was 2 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 54 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.
Probation Was the Usual Sentence
The "Other" category is a catch-all used by the U.S. Sentencing Commission. In this district, 44 of the 54 people (81%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
7 people (13%) received a prison term. The median was 2 months. A quarter received 7.5 months or more, and a quarter received 1.5 months or less.
For all 94 districts, 38% of people in this offense type went to prison, and the median was 0.2 months. The share sent to prison was lower here than in the all-district numbers.
What the Guidelines Show
The most common primary guideline was §2X5.2 (Class A Misdemeanors (Not Covered by Another Specific Offense Guideline)), with 37 people. Next was §2D2.2 (Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Forgery, Fraud, Deception, or Subterfuge), with 11 people. 2 people had §2A5.2 (Interference with Flight Crew Member or Flight Attendant).
These cases were 3% of the 2,037 people sentenced in the district. The median for all offenses in the district was 46 months.
Fines Instead of Prison
A fine was ordered for 41 people (76%), and restitution for 2 people (4%). 8 people (15%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 12 months.
In criminal history, 71% were in the lowest category, category I, and 2% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Pleas and Trials
48 of the 54 people (89%) pleaded guilty, and 6 were convicted after a trial. The all-district guilty plea rate was 98%, so pleas were less common here.
Among the guilty pleas, 96% had a written plea agreement and 4% were straight pleas. The prison median after a guilty plea was 2 months. After a trial it was 12 months, but only 1 person convicted at trial was sent to prison.
Guideline Range and Mandatory Minimums
48 of the 52 people with the information (92%) were within the guideline range. 3 (6%) were below it without a government request, and 1 (2%) was below it at the government's request. None was above the range.
The all-district figure for within-range sentences was 90%, which is about the same. No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 43 people with that information recorded.
Yearly Counts
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 38 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 16 people. The table shows n/a for the median in 2019, 2023, 2024, and 2025.
Yearly counts range from 1 to 12 people. These counts are small, and the records do not show why they changed.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 7 | 12 months | 5 of 7 |
| 2017 | 9 | 3 months | 8 of 9 |
| 2018 | 10 | 1 months | 80% |
| 2019 | 12 | n/a | 92% |
| 2020 | 3 | 2 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2021 | 3 | 12 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2022 | 3 | 1 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2023 | 4 | n/a | 4 of 4 |
| 2024 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2025 | 2 | n/a | 2 of 2 |
Maxwell AFB and Limits
Maxwell AFB, Alabama, is in this district and appears in this site's court-martial data. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal court.
The Commission data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced, and the prison terms are those imposed, not time served.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Middle District of Alabama (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Alabama Mid") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Other" (54). 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 Middle District of Alabama, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Middle District of Alabama, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Middle District of Alabama, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Middle District of Alabama, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Middle 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.