Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Middle District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025
A fine was the most common penalty among the 160 people in the Sentencing Commission's "Other" offense type in the Middle District of Tennessee, fiscal years 2016 to 2025: 154 people (96%). Prison terms were short. Among the 113 people (71%) who received one, the median was 0.2 months, the same as t
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Middle District of Tennessee, FY201 › Other Offense: Middle District of Tennessee
In brief: A fine was the most common penalty among the 160 people in the Sentencing Commission's "Other" offense type in the Middle District of Tennessee, fiscal years 2016 to 2025: 154 people (96%). Prison terms were short. Among the 113 people (71%) who received one, the median was 0.2 months, the same as the national median for this category.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 160 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.
A Catch-All Category Dominated by Fines
"Other" is a catch-all category in the Commission's system. It is assigned from the primary guideline at sentencing and does not describe one type of crime. In this district, 20 of the 160 cases used §2X5.2 (Class A Misdemeanors (Not Covered by Another Specific Offense Guideline)). 2 used §2D2.2 (Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Forgery, Fraud, Deception, or Subterfuge), and 1 used §2A5.2 (Interference with Flight Crew Member or Flight Attendant).
A fine was ordered for 154 of the 160 people (96%). Restitution was ordered for 2 (1%). These cases were 6% of the 2,879 people sentenced in the district.
Prison Terms
Of the 160 people, 113 (71%) received a prison term, and 47 (29%) received probation only. Across all 94 federal districts, 38% of people in the "Other" category went to prison, so a larger share went to prison here.
The median prison term was 0.2 months, and a quarter of people received 0.2 months or more and a quarter 0.2 months or less. The national median was also 0.2 months. The median for all offenses in this district was 50 months. The same median appears in every year of the table.
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 7 people (4%), with a median term of 12 months.
Almost All Sentences Were Within the Guideline Range
Position against the guideline range was recorded for 80 people. Of those, 79 (99%) were within the range, and 1 (1%) was below it at the government's request. None were below it without a request, and none were above it.
Across all districts, 90% of sentences in the "Other" category were within the range. For all offenses in this district, 26% were. The sentences in this group were within the range more often than the national group.
Guilty Pleas
All 160 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none was convicted after a trial. Across all districts, 98% pleaded guilty. Among the guilty pleas, 93% had a written plea agreement, and 3% were straight pleas.
With no trial convictions, there is no trial median to compare with the plea median. A mandatory minimum applied to 0 of the 17 people with that information recorded.
Criminal History
In the criminal history records, 99% of people were in the lowest category, category I, and 0% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
The records do not give criminal history for the national group of the same category, so no comparison is made.
Counts by Fiscal Year
The district sentenced 76 people in this group in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 84 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. Yearly counts range from 7 in fiscal year 2020 to 25 in fiscal year 2018.
Every year in the table has a median of 0.2 months and a guilty plea rate of 100%. The table shows the same pattern throughout the period.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 10 | 0.2 months | 100% |
| 2017 | 23 | 0.2 months | 100% |
| 2018 | 25 | 0.2 months | 100% |
| 2019 | 18 | 0.2 months | 100% |
| 2020 | 7 | 0.2 months | 7 of 7 |
| 2021 | 13 | 0.2 months | 100% |
| 2022 | 16 | 0.2 months | 100% |
| 2023 | 21 | 0.2 months | 100% |
| 2024 | 13 | 0.2 months | 100% |
| 2025 | 14 | 0.2 months | 100% |
What the Records Cannot Show
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, and terms are those imposed, not time served.
Because the category is a catch-all, these figures describe a mix of cases and are not a measure of any single offense.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Middle District of Tennessee (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Tennessee Mid") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Other" (160). 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 Tennessee, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Middle District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Middle District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Middle District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Middle 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.