Federal Prison Offense Sentences in the Western District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025
Of the 32 people sentenced for prison offenses in the Western District of Louisiana in fiscal years 2017 to 2025, 31 (97%) received a prison term. The median was 15 months, compared with 10 months for this offense type in all 94 federal districts. Escape was the primary guideline for 21 people.
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In brief: Of the 32 people sentenced for prison offenses in the Western District of Louisiana in fiscal years 2017 to 2025, 31 (97%) received a prison term. The median was 15 months, compared with 10 months for this offense type in all 94 federal districts. Escape was the primary guideline for 21 people.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 32 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 and Contraband Cases
The Commission's Prison Offenses category is assigned from the primary guideline. In this district, §2P1.1 (Escape, Instigating or Assisting Escape) was the primary guideline for 21 people. §2P1.2 (Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison) was the primary guideline for 10.
Prison Offenses cases were 1% of the 3,011 people sentenced in this district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
How Long Were the Prison Terms?
Of the 32 people, 31 (97%) received a prison term, and 1 (3%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
The median prison term was 15 months. A quarter received 21 months or more, and a quarter received 6 months or less. These are terms imposed, not time served.
Across all districts, 4,976 people were sentenced for this offense type, 96% were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 10 months. The median in this district was higher. For all offenses in this district, the median prison term was 60 months.
Pleas and Mandatory Minimums
All 32 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial. In all districts, 99% pleaded guilty for this offense type, and for all offenses in this district the share was 96%.
Among guilty pleas, 97% had a written plea agreement, and 0% were straight pleas with no agreement. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 32 people with that information recorded (0%).
Position Against the Guideline Range
All 32 people had guideline information. Of these, 21 (66%) were sentenced within the range. Another 10 (31%) were below the range without a government request, and 1 (3%) was above it. None were below the range at the government's request.
In all districts, 63% of sentences for this offense type were within the range. The share here was about the same, and a little higher. For all offenses in this district, 67% were within the range.
Criminal History, Supervised Release, and Financial Orders
In criminal history, 19% were in the lowest category (category I), and 34% were in the highest (VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 25 people (78%), with a median term of 36 months. No fine (0%) and no restitution (0%) was ordered.
Counts by Fiscal Year
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 account for 13 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 account for 19. The yearly table starts with 2017.
Counts in each year range from 1 to 6 people. The medians in the table move between 4 months and 30 months, but the groups are too small to call that a trend. Fiscal years begin October 1.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 2 | 16.5 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2018 | 5 | 16 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2019 | 6 | 10 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2020 | 2 | 16.5 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2021 | 3 | 27 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2022 | 1 | 30 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2023 | 6 | 21 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2024 | 5 | 6 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2025 | 2 | 4 months | 2 of 2 |
Installations and Limits
Barksdale AFB and Fort Polk are in this district and appear in this site's court-martial data. Those cases are tried in military courts.
The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it. The records do not describe where or how any offense happened.
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 "Prison Offenses" (32). 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 Louisiana, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Western District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Western District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Western District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Western District of Louisiana, 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.