Federal Robbery Sentences in the Central District of Illinois, FY2016–2025
The Central District of Illinois sentenced 75 people for robbery in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and all 75 received a prison term. The median was 115 months, or 9.6 years, compared with 90 months across all 94 districts.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Central District of Illinois, FY201 › Robbery: Central District of Illinois
In brief: The Central District of Illinois sentenced 75 people for robbery in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and all 75 received a prison term. The median was 115 months, or 9.6 years, compared with 90 months across all 94 districts.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 75 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.
Median Prison Terms for Robbery
All 75 people (100%) were sent to prison. The median prison term was 115 months. A quarter received 174 months or more, and a quarter received 55.5 months or less.
Across all districts, 14,845 people were sentenced for robbery, and the median term was 90 months. The district's median was higher than that and also higher than the 70-month median for all offenses in the district.
Robbery cases were 3% of the 2,440 people sentenced in the district.
Sentences Within the Guideline Range
Within the range were 51% (38 people). Below the range without a government request were 27% (20), below the range at the government's request 13% (10), and above the range 9% (7).
Across all districts, 40% of robbery sentences were within the range, and for all offenses in the district the figure was 36%. The district's share was higher than both.
Trials and Pleas
Guilty pleas accounted for 66 of the 75 people (88%), and 9 people were convicted after a trial. Nationwide in this category, 95% pleaded guilty, compared with 94% for every offense in the district.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 109 months, and after a trial it was 193 months. Among the guilty pleas, 64% had a written plea agreement and 32% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Mandatory Minimums and Guidelines
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 32 of the 75 people (43%). The offense type is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's category, assigned from the primary guideline.
In 74 cases the guideline was §2B3.1 (Robbery), and 1 case used §2X3.1 (Accessory After the Fact).
Yearly Counts and Medians
The federal fiscal year begins on October 1 and ends the following September. In fiscal years 2016 to 2019, 25 people were sentenced for robbery, and in fiscal years 2020 to 2025 there were 50.
Fiscal year 2024 had 17 people and a median of 60 months. Fiscal year 2025 had 5 people and a median of 240 months, and 1 of those 5 pleaded guilty. Counts this small move the median a great deal, and the records cannot show why.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1 | 30 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2017 | 6 | 93.5 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2018 | 11 | 180 months | 82% |
| 2019 | 7 | 108 months | 6 of 7 |
| 2020 | 6 | 138.5 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2021 | 6 | 114 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2022 | 7 | 100 months | 7 of 7 |
| 2023 | 9 | 144 months | 7 of 9 |
| 2024 | 17 | 60 months | 100% |
| 2025 | 5 | 240 months | 1 of 5 |
Supervision, Fines, and Criminal History
All 75 people were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 36 months. No fine was ordered (0%), and restitution was ordered for 40 people (53%).
In criminal history, 17% were in the lowest category, category I, and 23% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Limits of the Data
Anyone who was acquitted or whose case was dismissed is absent from this data. Prison terms here are those imposed, which can differ from time served.
Nothing in the records explains what happened in a case.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Central District of Illinois (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Illinois Cent") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Robbery" (75). 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 Central District of Illinois, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Central District of Illinois, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Central District of Illinois, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Central District of Illinois, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Child Pornography Sentences in the Central District of Illinois, 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.