Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Western District of Arkansas, FY2016–2025
In the Western District of Arkansas, 38 people were sentenced in the U.S. Sentencing Commission's "Other" offense type in fiscal years 2016 to 2023. 23 (61%) received probation only, and 10 (26%) received a prison term. The median prison term for those 10 people was 0.7 months.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Western District of Arkansas, FY201 › Other Offense: Western District of Arkansas
In brief: In the Western District of Arkansas, 38 people were sentenced in the U.S. Sentencing Commission's "Other" offense type in fiscal years 2016 to 2023. 23 (61%) received probation only, and 10 (26%) received a prison term. The median prison term for those 10 people was 0.7 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 38 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.
Mostly Probation, With Very Short Prison Terms
The "Other" offense type is a catch-all category used by the Commission. In this district, 38 people were counted in it.
23 of them (61%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. 10 (26%) received a prison term, and the median was 0.7 months. A quarter received 2.5 months or more, and a quarter received 0.3 months or less.
For all 94 districts, 38% of people in this offense type went to prison, and the median prison term was 0.2 months. The share sent to prison was lower in this district than in the all-district numbers.
Misdemeanors Make Up Most of the Category
The most common primary guideline was §2X5.2 (Class A Misdemeanors (Not Covered by Another Specific Offense Guideline)), with 33 of the 38 people.
These cases were 2% of the 2,185 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The median prison term for all offenses in the district was 72 months, which is far higher than the 0.7 months here.
Guideline Range and Mandatory Minimums
The sentence was within the guideline range for 34 people (89%). It was below the range without a government request for 3 people (8%), and at the government's request for 1 person (3%). No sentence was above the range.
The all-district figure for within-range sentences in this offense type was 90%, which is about the same.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 32 people with that information recorded.
Pleas and Plea Agreements
All 38 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none was convicted after a trial. The all-district guilty plea rate was 98%.
Among the guilty pleas, 11% had a written plea agreement and 74% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Fines, Supervised Release, and Criminal History
A fine was ordered for 23 people (61%). No one was ordered to pay restitution.
2 people (5%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 12 months.
In criminal history, 63% were in the lowest category, category I, and 5% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Counts by Fiscal Year
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 34 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 4 people. The Commission data for this offense type in this district ends with fiscal year 2023.
Yearly counts range from 1 to 13 people. The table shows n/a as the median for 2023, which has 1 person. The counts are too small to show a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 13 | 1 months | 100% |
| 2017 | 8 | 6 months | 8 of 8 |
| 2018 | 9 | 0.2 months | 9 of 9 |
| 2019 | 4 | 0 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2020 | 3 | 0.3 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2023 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
What Cannot Be Learned Here
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data.
The records do not show which specific offenses were in this category beyond the guideline labels, and prison terms are those imposed, not time served.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Western District of Arkansas (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Arkansas West") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Other" (38). 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 Western District of Arkansas, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Western District of Arkansas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Western District of Arkansas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Western District of Arkansas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Western District of Arkansas, 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.