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# Federal Prison Offense Sentences in the Western District of Washington, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-prison-offenses-sentences-western-district-of-washington/
- Published: 2026-11-04T11:09:23.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T11:09:23.000Z
- Description: In the Western District of Washington, 41 people were sentenced for prison offenses such as escape and contraband in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. All 41 pleaded guilty, and 40 (98%) received a prison term. The median was 5.9 months.
- 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 Western District of Washington, FY2](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-western-district-of-washington/) › Prison Offense: Western District of Washington

**In brief:** In the Western District of Washington, 41 people were sentenced for prison offenses such as escape and contraband in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. All 41 pleaded guilty, and 40 (98%) received a prison term. The median was 5.9 months.

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 41 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/).

## All 41 People Pleaded Guilty

The Sentencing Commission's "Prison Offenses" type has 41 people in this district. 41 of 41 (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial. Every plea (100%) had a written plea agreement.

Nationally, guilty pleas were 99% for this offense type. For every offense type in this district, they were 97%.

## Short Prison Terms

40 people (98%) received a prison term, and 0 received probation only. The median prison term was 5.9 months. A quarter received 9.2 months or more, and a quarter received 2.2 months or less.

Nationally, 4,976 people fall in this type, 96% went to prison, and the median was 10 months. The district median is lower. Across all offense types in the district, the median was 30 months.

## Sentences and the Guideline Range

13 people (32%) were sentenced within the guideline range. 15 (37%) were below it at the government's request. 12 (29%) were below it without a request, and 1 (2%) was above it.

The national share within the range was 63%, and the district's share for all offenses is 35%. A mandatory minimum applied to 0 of the 41 people. The guideline range is the sentence the Sentencing Guidelines recommend for a case, and a sentence below it at the government's request is counted apart from one below it on the court's own decision.

## Escape and Contraband Guidelines

28 people were under §2P1.1 (Escape, Instigating or Assisting Escape). 11 were under §2P1.2 (Providing or Possessing Contraband in Prison).

These cases were 1% of the 3,992 people sentenced in the district. The offense type is the Commission's own category, and the guidelines above are the main ones in it. The guideline names describe the type of offense, not the facts of any single case.

## Supervision and Money Orders

22 people (54%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 36 months. No fines were ordered (0), and no restitution was ordered (0).

## Criminal History

Only 5% were in the lowest criminal history category, and 24% were in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

## Counts by Year

Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 22 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 19\. Yearly counts run from 1 to 8, and the medians run from 0 to 18.3 months. Counts this small do not show a trend, and the records give no reason for the differences.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 6                | 7.5 months    | 6 of 6         |
| 2017        | 8                | 5.4 months    | 8 of 8         |
| 2018        | 2                | 14.5 months   | 2 of 2         |
| 2019        | 6                | 4.8 months    | 6 of 6         |
| 2020        | 1                | 2 months      | 1 of 1         |
| 2021        | 2                | 0 months      | 2 of 2         |
| 2022        | 2                | 18.3 months   | 2 of 2         |
| 2023        | 2                | 12 months     | 2 of 2         |
| 2024        | 4                | 5.8 months    | 4 of 4         |
| 2025        | 8                | 5.5 months    | 8 of 8         |

## What Is Not in the Data

Bremerton, Washington and Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington are in this district. Courts-martial are heard in military courts. The federal data leaves out acquittals and dismissals, and prison terms are those imposed, not time served.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Western District of Washington (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Washington West") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Prison Offenses" (41). 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](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 Western District of Washington, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-western-district-of-washington/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Western District of Washington, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-western-district-of-washington/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Western District of Washington, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-other-sentences-western-district-of-washington/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Western District of Washington, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-western-district-of-washington/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Western District of Washington, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-western-district-of-washington/) (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.