Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025
Of 611 people sentenced in the Sentencing Commission's "Other" category in the Southern District of Georgia in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 381 (62%) received probation only and 206 (34%) received a prison term. Among those sent to prison, the median was 0.3 months. A fine was ordered for 529 (87%).
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Southern District of Georgia, FY201 › Other Offense: Southern District of Georgia
In brief: Of 611 people sentenced in the Sentencing Commission's "Other" category in the Southern District of Georgia in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 381 (62%) received probation only and 206 (34%) received a prison term. Among those sent to prison, the median was 0.3 months. A fine was ordered for 529 (87%).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 611 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 and Fines Were the Usual Sentence
Of the 611 people, 381 (62%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. 206 (34%) received a prison term.
A fine was ordered for 529 people (87%), and restitution for 7 (1%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 143 people (23%), with a median term of 12 months.
Very Short Prison Terms
Among the 206 people sent to prison, the median prison term was 0.3 months. A quarter received 0.4 months or more, and a quarter received 0.1 months or less. These are the terms imposed, not time served.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 85 people with that information recorded.
What the "Other" Category Contains
"Other" is a catch-all in the Commission's list of offense types. In this district, §2X5.2 (Class A Misdemeanors (Not Covered by Another Specific Offense Guideline)) was the primary guideline for 320 people. §2D2.2 (Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Forgery, Fraud, Deception, or Subterfuge) applied to 15.
§2D3.1 (Regulatory Offenses Involving Registration Numbers) and §2A5.2 (Interference with Flight Crew Member or Flight Attendant) each applied to 1. These cases were 15% of the 4,115 people sentenced in the district.
Nationwide and District Comparisons
Across all 94 districts, 9,918 people were sentenced in this category. 38% were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 0.2 months. Guilty pleas were 98%.
The share sent to prison here was lower than the national share. The median was 0.3 months, a little higher than the national median. For all offenses in the district, the median prison term was 48 months.
A Single Trial
610 of the 611 people (more than 99%) pleaded guilty, and 1 was convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 0.3 months. The one person convicted at trial and sent to prison has a listed term of 12 months, which cannot be compared with a group.
Among guilty pleas, 41% had a written plea agreement and 33% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Sentences Within the Guideline Range
The guideline range was recorded for all 611 people. More than 99% (606) were within the range. Less than 1% (1) were below the range at the government's request, less than 1% (3) were below it without a government request, and less than 1% (1) were above it.
Nationally, 90% of sentences in this category were within the range, so the within-range share here was higher. For all offenses in the district, it was 71%.
Criminal History
86% of the people were in criminal history category I, the lowest, and 1% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Counts by Fiscal Year
The district sentenced 279 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 332 people in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. A fiscal year starts on October 1.
Yearly counts ranged from 23 to 91. The yearly median was 0.3 months in most years, 3.9 months in fiscal year 2019, and 0.1 months in fiscal year 2016. Because medians are so close to 0, differences between years are small in absolute terms.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 91 | 0.1 months | 100% |
| 2017 | 86 | 0.7 months | 100% |
| 2018 | 62 | 0.3 months | 100% |
| 2019 | 40 | 3.9 months | 100% |
| 2020 | 23 | 0.3 months | 100% |
| 2021 | 88 | 0.3 months | 99% |
| 2022 | 57 | 0.3 months | 100% |
| 2023 | 45 | 0.3 months | 100% |
| 2024 | 62 | 0.3 months | 100% |
| 2025 | 57 | 0.3 months | 100% |
Limits of the Records
The Commission lists only people who were convicted and sentenced. People who were acquitted or whose cases were dismissed are absent, and the records do not describe any case. Fort Gordon and Fort Stewart are in this district. Military courts try courts-martial, not this federal court.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Georgia (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Georgia South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Other" (611). 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 Southern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Georgia, 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.