Federal Prison Offense Sentences in the Western District of Missouri, FY2016–2025
In the Western District of Missouri, 57 people were sentenced for prison offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and all 57 pleaded guilty. 48% were in the highest criminal history category. 52 (91%) received a prison term, with a median of 17.7 months.
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In brief: In the Western District of Missouri, 57 people were sentenced for prison offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and all 57 pleaded guilty. 48% were in the highest criminal history category. 52 (91%) received a prison term, with a median of 17.7 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 57 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 Was Often the Highest Category
Criminal history category VI, the highest, applied to 48% of these people, and category I, the lowest, applied to 11%. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so the measure has no military counterpart.
The records do not show how a person's criminal history related to the sentence.
What Prison Offenses Include
Prison Offenses is an offense type that the U.S. Sentencing Commission assigns by primary guideline. Of the 57 people, 45 were sentenced under §2P1.1 (Escape, Instigating or Assisting Escape).
10 were sentenced under §2P1.2 (Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison), and 1 under §2X3.1 (Accessory After the Fact). These cases were less than 1% of the 7,571 people sentenced in the district.
Prison Terms
52 of the 57 people (91%) were sent to prison, and 4 (7%) received probation only. For all 94 federal districts, 96% of the 4,976 people in this offense type were sent to prison.
A quarter of those sent to prison received 27 months or more, and a quarter received 12 months or less. The median of 17.7 months was higher than the 10 months for all districts. For all offenses in this district, the median was 72 months.
Pleas and Mandatory Minimums
All 57 (100%) pleaded guilty, and none were convicted after a trial. Across all districts, 99% pleaded guilty. 60% of guilty pleas had a written plea agreement, and 40% were straight pleas.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 57 people with that information recorded (0%).
Position Against the Guideline Range
The range was recorded for 56 people. 70% (39) were within it. 16% (9) were below it without a government request, 5% (3) were below it at the government's request, and 9% (5) were above it.
For all districts, 63% were within the range. For all offenses in this district, 38% were.
Supervised Release and Yearly Counts
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 49 people (86%), with a median term of 36 months. No fine was ordered for any (0%), and restitution was ordered for 1 (2%).
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 30 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 27. Fiscal year 2018 had 13, the most in any year. Fiscal year 2024 had a median of 96 months, based on 2 people, and every other listed year had a median between 14.5 and 33 months.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 6 | 18 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2017 | 5 | 18 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2018 | 13 | 17.5 months | 100% |
| 2019 | 6 | 16.5 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2020 | 4 | 15 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2021 | 1 | 33 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2022 | 6 | 14.5 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2023 | 9 | 18 months | 9 of 9 |
| 2024 | 2 | 96 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2025 | 5 | 15.5 months | 5 of 5 |
What Is Not Counted
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are not, and prison terms are those imposed, not served.
Fort Leonard Wood and Whiteman AFB are in this district. Their courts-martial are tried in military courts and are outside this federal count.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Western District of Missouri (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Missouri West") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Prison Offenses" (57). 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 Missouri, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Western District of Missouri, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Western District of Missouri, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Western District of Missouri, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Child Pornography Sentences in the Western District of Missouri, 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.