Federal Prison Offense Sentences in the District of New Mexico, FY2016–2025
112 people were sentenced for prison offenses in the District of New Mexico in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. All 112 pleaded guilty, and 111 (more than 99%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 11.2 months, compared with 10 months for all 94 federal districts.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the District of New Mexico, FY2016–2025 › Prison Offense: District of New Mexico
In brief: 112 people were sentenced for prison offenses in the District of New Mexico in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. All 112 pleaded guilty, and 111 (more than 99%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 11.2 months, compared with 10 months for all 94 federal districts.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 112 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.
Escape Is the Main Guideline
Prison Offenses is the Commission's name for this offense type. §2P1.1 (Escape, Instigating or Assisting Escape) was the primary guideline in 99 cases. §2P1.2 (Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison) was the primary guideline in 12.
These cases were less than 1% of the 29,766 people sentenced in the district. All districts together sentenced 4,976 people in this type.
Criminal History Is Unusual in This Group
Only 5% of the people were in criminal history category I, the lowest. 27% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so this measure applies only to federal cases.
Prison Terms
1 person received probation only. Among the 111 sent to prison, a quarter received 15 months or more, and a quarter received 6 months or less. For all offenses in the district, the median prison term was 3.5 months.
Nationally, 96% of people in this type were sent to prison. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 112 people.
Pleas and Plea Agreements
Guilty pleas were 100%, and no one was convicted after a trial. Nationally, 99% pleaded guilty, and for all offenses here, more than 99% did.
Among guilty pleas, 61% had a written plea agreement and 39% were straight pleas with no agreement. A straight plea is a guilty plea with no agreement with the government.
Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range
75% of the 112 people (84) were within the guideline range. 6% (7) were below it at the government's request, and 16% (18) were below it without a request. 3% (3) were above it.
Across all districts, 63% of sentences in this type were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the share was 59%.
Release and Money Orders
105 people (94%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 1 person, and restitution for 1, each less than 1%.
Yearly Counts and Medians
37 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019, and 75 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. A fiscal year starts on October 1 and ends the following September.
Yearly counts run from 6 in 2019 to 17 in 2023 and 2025. The yearly median ran from 7 months in 2017 to 18 months in 2022. With 6 to 17 people per year, single years are not a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 15 | 8 months | 100% |
| 2017 | 8 | 7 months | 8 of 8 |
| 2018 | 8 | 10 months | 8 of 8 |
| 2019 | 6 | 13.5 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2020 | 10 | 12 months | 100% |
| 2021 | 12 | 11.5 months | 100% |
| 2022 | 7 | 18 months | 7 of 7 |
| 2023 | 17 | 12 months | 100% |
| 2024 | 12 | 7.1 months | 100% |
| 2025 | 17 | 10.5 months | 100% |
What the Records Leave Out
Cannon AFB, Holloman AFB, and Kirtland AFB are in this district. Their courts-martial are held in military courts. The data excludes acquittals and dismissals, and terms are those imposed, not time served.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of New Mexico (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "New Mexico") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Prison Offenses" (112). 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.
Mandatory minimum sentences. Many federal statutes on drugs, images of child exploitation, child sex abuse, and firearms carry mandatory minimum prison terms. The UCMJ has mandatory minimums only for a few offenses (a dishonorable discharge or dismissal for rape and sexual assault, and life for premeditated murder). Federal sentences for these offenses are partly set by Congress, not by the judge.
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 New Mexico, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of New Mexico, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of New Mexico, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of New Mexico, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Assault Sentences in the District of New Mexico, 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.