Federal Prison Offense Sentences in the District of Connecticut, FY2016–2025
The District of Connecticut sentenced 14 people for prison offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and all 14 pleaded guilty and received a prison term. The median was 12 months, compared with 10 months across all 94 districts. 50% of the group was in the highest criminal history category.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the District of Connecticut, FY2016–202 › Prison Offense: District of Connecticut
In brief: The District of Connecticut sentenced 14 people for prison offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and all 14 pleaded guilty and received a prison term. The median was 12 months, compared with 10 months across all 94 districts. 50% of the group was in the highest criminal history category.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 14 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.
Criminal History in the Group
In this group, 50% of people were in the highest criminal history category, and 0% were in the lowest. Criminal history is a category based on earlier convictions. It is one input to the guideline range.
The sheet gives no national criminal history figure for this offense type, so no comparison is made here.
Prison Terms Compared With the Nation
Every person (100%) received a prison term, and none received probation only. In all districts, 96% of people in this offense type were sent to prison.
The median prison term was 12 months. A quarter received 13.5 months or more, and a quarter received 9.2 months or less. The national median was 10 months, and the district median for all offenses was 36 months.
Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served. No mandatory minimum applied to anyone in the group (0%).
Escape and Contraband Guidelines
The Commission's offense type "Prison Offenses" covers cases about escape and about contraband in prison. The primary guideline was §2P1.1 (Escape, Instigating or Assisting Escape) for 12 people.
The other 2 people were sentenced under §2P1.2 (Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison). The group is less than 1% of the 3,174 people sentenced in the district.
Staying Within the Range More Often
8 people (57%) received a sentence within the guideline range. That is higher than the district figure of 30% for all offenses and a little lower than the national figure of 63% for this offense type.
One person (7%) was below the range at the government's request, and 5 people (36%) were below it without such a request. No one was above the range.
Pleas and Release
All 14 people (100%) pleaded guilty. Of the guilty pleas, 86% had a written plea agreement and 14% were straight pleas with no agreement. Across all districts, 99% pleaded guilty.
Supervised release followed prison for 11 people (79%), with a median term of 36 months. No fine and no restitution was ordered (0 each).
Yearly Figures
Each year in the table has 1 to 3 people, and fiscal years 2017 and 2021 do not appear. Medians ranged from 9 months in fiscal years 2019 and 2022 to 18 months in fiscal year 2020.
There were 5 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 9 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. A group this small does not show a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1 | 15 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2018 | 1 | 12 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2019 | 3 | 9 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2020 | 2 | 18 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2022 | 1 | 9 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2023 | 2 | 10.9 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2024 | 3 | 12 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2025 | 1 | 14 months | 1 of 1 |
Limits of the Records
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data.
The records do not describe any case or explain any sentence.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of Connecticut (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Connecticut") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Prison Offenses" (14). 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 District of Connecticut, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of Connecticut, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of Connecticut, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of Connecticut, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Robbery Sentences in the District of Connecticut, 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.