> ## 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 Robbery Sentences in the District of Massachusetts, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-robbery-sentences-district-of-massachusetts/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:59:28.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:59:28.000Z - Description: In the District of Massachusetts, 107 people were sentenced for robbery in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 106 of them received a prison term. The median prison term was 68 months (5.7 years). The median across all 94 federal districts for robbery was 90 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 District of Massachusetts, FY2016–2](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-district-of-massachusetts/) › Robbery: District of Massachusetts **In brief:** In the District of Massachusetts, 107 people were sentenced for robbery in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 106 of them received a prison term. The median prison term was 68 months (5.7 years). The median across all 94 federal districts for robbery was 90 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 107 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/). ## Prison Terms for Robbery in This District The U.S. Sentencing Commission groups federal cases into offense types, and "Robbery" is one of its categories. The 107 people in this post were sentenced in the District of Massachusetts, and 1 of them received probation only. Among the 106 sent to prison, the median prison term was 68 months. A quarter received 99.5 months or more, and a quarter received 48 months or less. In all 94 districts together, 14,845 people were sentenced for robbery, and the median prison term was 90 months. These are the terms imposed by the court, not the time actually served. ## Where Robbery Fits Among the District's Cases Robbery cases were 2% of the 4,847 people sentenced in this district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. The median prison term for all offenses in the district was 30 months, which is lower than the 68 months for robbery. Every one of the 107 cases had the same primary guideline: §2B3.1 (Robbery). A primary guideline is the section of the Sentencing Guidelines that the court used to set the starting range for the case. ## Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range Of the 107 people with the information, 31 (29%) were sentenced within the guideline range. A total of 32 (30%) were below the range at the government's request, and 43 (40%) were below it without a government request. Only 1 was above the range. For robbery in all 94 districts, 40% were sentenced within the range. For all offenses in this district, the figure was 29%. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 18 of the 107 people with that information recorded (17%). ## Guilty Pleas and Trials A total of 102 of 107 people (95%) pleaded guilty, and 5 were convicted after a trial. The guilty plea rate was 95% for robbery in all districts and 95% for all offenses in this district. The median prison term was 63 months after a guilty plea and 121 months after a trial. The trial figure rests on only 5 people, so it describes a very small group. Among guilty pleas, 50% had a written plea agreement and 50% were straight pleas with no agreement. ## After Prison and Other Penalties After prison, 104 people (97%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 36 months. No fine was ordered for any of the 107\. Restitution was ordered for 70 (65%). On criminal history, 22% were in the lowest criminal history category, Category I, and 28% were in the highest (VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so this measure has no counterpart there. ## Yearly Counts Are Small Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 34 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 73\. A fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30\. The largest single year in the table is 2023, with 20 people, and the smallest is 2020, with 6. Yearly medians range from 48 months in 2016 to 108 months in 2020\. Counts of 6 to 20 people a year are too small to show a trend, and the table is best read as a list of separate years. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 9 | 48 months | 8 of 9 | | 2017 | 8 | 55.5 months | 7 of 8 | | 2018 | 10 | 68.5 months | 100% | | 2019 | 7 | 65 months | 7 of 7 | | 2020 | 6 | 108 months | 5 of 6 | | 2021 | 11 | 78 months | 100% | | 2022 | 8 | 72 months | 8 of 8 | | 2023 | 20 | 61.5 months | 95% | | 2024 | 17 | 71 months | 94% | | 2025 | 11 | 70 months | 100% | ## What the Records Cannot Show The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, and the records give no facts about how each robbery happened. The numbers describe groups of sentences and cannot explain why one differed from another. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of Massachusetts (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Massachusetts") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Robbery" (107). 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 District of Massachusetts, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-district-of-massachusetts/) (overview) - [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of Massachusetts, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-district-of-massachusetts/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of Massachusetts, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-district-of-massachusetts/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of Massachusetts, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-district-of-massachusetts/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of Massachusetts, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-district-of-massachusetts/) (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.