> ## 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 Prison Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Arkansas, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-prison-offenses-sentences-eastern-district-of-arkansas/ - Published: 2026-11-04T11:05:54.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T11:05:54.000Z - Description: 552 people were sentenced for prison offenses in the Eastern District of Arkansas in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 545 of them (99%) received a prison term, and the median was 4 months. Prison offenses were 11% of all 4,942 people sentenced in the district. - 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 Eastern District of Arkansas, FY201](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-arkansas/) › Prison Offense: Eastern District of Arkansas **In brief:** 552 people were sentenced for prison offenses in the Eastern District of Arkansas in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. 545 of them (99%) received a prison term, and the median was 4 months. Prison offenses were 11% of all 4,942 people sentenced in the district. 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 552 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/). ## Short Terms and Mostly Straight Guilty Pleas The median prison term for the 545 people sent to prison was 4 months. A quarter received 6 months or more, and a quarter received 2 months or less. For all 94 federal districts, the median for this offense type was 10 months. For all offenses in this district, it was 50 months. The terms are those imposed, not time served. 549 of the 552 people (more than 99%) pleaded guilty, and 3 were convicted after a trial. Among those who pleaded guilty, 7% had a written plea agreement and 90% were straight pleas with no agreement. ## What the Commission Means by Prison Offenses "Prison Offenses" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type for crimes tied to prisons, such as contraband and escape. It is based on the primary guideline in each case. The most common was §2P1.2 (Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison), for 469 people. The next was §2P1.1 (Escape, Instigating or Assisting Escape), for 16. For all districts, 4,976 people were sentenced for this offense type, and 96% were sent to prison. Here the share was 99%, and 4 people (less than 1%) received probation only. ## Yearly Counts Vary Widely The count of people sentenced was 30 in 2016, 33 in 2017, 85 in 2018, and 136 in 2019\. It was 60 in 2020, 125 in 2021, and 67 in 2022\. In 2023 it was 8, in 2024 it was 7, and in 2025 it was 1. 284 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019, and 268 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. The yearly medians were 3 to 4 months from 2016 through 2022\. The 2023 to 2025 medians are 6, 21, and 33 months, but those years have 8, 7, and 1 people, so they are too small to call a change. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 30 | 3 months | 100% | | 2017 | 33 | 4 months | 100% | | 2018 | 85 | 4 months | 99% | | 2019 | 136 | 3 months | 100% | | 2020 | 60 | 3.5 months | 98% | | 2021 | 125 | 4 months | more than 99% | | 2022 | 67 | 4 months | 100% | | 2023 | 8 | 6 months | 8 of 8 | | 2024 | 7 | 21 months | 7 of 7 | | 2025 | 1 | 33 months | 1 of 1 | ## Where Sentences Fell Against the Guideline Range 414 of the 520 people with the information (80%) were sentenced within the guideline range. 79 (15%) were below the range without a government request, and 7 (1%) were below it at the government's request. 20 (4%) were above the range. For all districts, 63% of sentences for this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the share was 55%. ## Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History Only 39 people (7%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison. The median term was 24 months. A fine was ordered for 2 people (less than 1%), and restitution for 0. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 532 people with that information recorded (less than 1%). 20% of the group were in the highest criminal history category, and less than 1% were in the lowest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. ## What the Records Cannot Show Little Rock AFB, Arkansas, is in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal district court. The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Its data has no acquittals or dismissals, and it does not describe the facts of any case or give reasons for a sentence. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Arkansas (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Arkansas East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Prison Offenses" (552). 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](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 Eastern District of Arkansas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-arkansas/) (overview) - [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Arkansas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-eastern-district-of-arkansas/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Arkansas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-eastern-district-of-arkansas/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Arkansas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-eastern-district-of-arkansas/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Arkansas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-eastern-district-of-arkansas/) (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.