> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Western District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-other-sentences-western-district-of-louisiana/ - Published: 2026-11-04T11:14:43.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T11:14:43.000Z - Description: The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 44 people sentenced for offenses in its "Other" category in the Western District of Louisiana in fiscal years 2017 to 2025. Of these, 13 (30%) received a prison term, with a median of 6 months, and 31 (70%) received probation only. All 20 people with guideline - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [Federal Sentences in the Western District of Louisiana, FY20](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-western-district-of-louisiana/) › Other Offense: Western District of Louisiana **In brief:** The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 44 people sentenced for offenses in its "Other" category in the Western District of Louisiana in fiscal years 2017 to 2025\. Of these, 13 (30%) received a prison term, with a median of 6 months, and 31 (70%) received probation only. All 20 people with guideline information were sentenced within the range. Updated November 4, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025 This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 44 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/). ## What the Other Category Contains The offense type is the Commission's category, and it is assigned from the primary guideline. The Other category collects cases that do not fit the Commission's named types. In this district, §2D2.2 (Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Forgery, Fraud, Deception, or Subterfuge) was the primary guideline for 9 people. §2X5.2 (Class A Misdemeanors (Not Covered by Another Specific Offense Guideline)) and §2A5.2 (Interference with Flight Crew Member or Flight Attendant) were each the primary guideline for 1 person. The sheet lists no other guidelines, so the category is mixed. Other cases were 1% of the 3,011 people sentenced in this district in the period. ## Prison, Probation, and Fines Of the 44 people, 13 (30%) received a prison term, and 31 (70%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 6 months. A quarter received 6 months or more, and a quarter received 6 months or less. A fine was ordered for 36 people (82%). Restitution was ordered for 0 (0%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 8 people (18%), with a median term of 12 months. Across all 94 federal districts, 9,918 people were sentenced in this category, 38% were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 0.2 months. For all offenses in this district, the median prison term was 60 months. ## Guilty Pleas and Trials Of the 44 people, 42 (95%) pleaded guilty, and 2 were convicted after a trial. In all districts, 98% pleaded guilty in this category. For all offenses in this district, the share was 96%. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 6 months. After a trial it was 12 months, based on 1 person convicted at trial and sent to prison. That is one case, so it is not a comparison. Among guilty pleas, 33% had a written plea agreement and 19% were straight pleas with no agreement. The records do not say how the remaining pleas were classified. ## Position Against the Guideline Range All 20 people with guideline information (100%) were sentenced within the range. None were sentenced below it or above it. In all districts, 90% of sentences in this category were within the range, and for all offenses in this district the share was 67%. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 13 people with that information recorded (0%). In criminal history, 100% were in the lowest category (category I), and 0% were in the highest (VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field. ## Counts by Fiscal Year Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 account for 7 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 account for 37\. The federal fiscal year starts October 1\. The yearly table begins with 2017\. It shows n/a where too few people were sent to prison to report a median. The yearly counts are small, so the table does not show a trend. Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, and Fort Polk, Louisiana, lie within this district. This site's court-martial data covers both, but courts-martial are not tried in the federal district court. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2017 | 2 | n/a | 2 of 2 | | 2018 | 3 | 84 months | 2 of 3 | | 2019 | 2 | 0 months | 2 of 2 | | 2020 | 2 | 6 months | 1 of 2 | | 2021 | 5 | 6 months | 5 of 5 | | 2022 | 5 | n/a | 5 of 5 | | 2023 | 16 | 6 months | 100% | | 2024 | 8 | 6 months | 8 of 8 | | 2025 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 | ## What the Records Cannot Show The Commission data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served. The records do not describe the conduct behind the cases in a mixed category. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Western District of Louisiana (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Louisiana West") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Other" (44). 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article) - [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts) - [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method) - [Federal Sentences in the Western District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-western-district-of-louisiana/) (overview) - [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Western District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-western-district-of-louisiana/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Western District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-western-district-of-louisiana/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Western District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-western-district-of-louisiana/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Western District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-western-district-of-louisiana/) (same district, other offense type) - [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source) - [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.