Federal Robbery Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025
All 52 people sentenced for robbery in the Eastern District of California in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term. The median prison term was 63 months, compared with 90 months for robbery in all 94 districts. In this district, 56% were sentenced within the guideline range.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2 › Robbery: Eastern District of California
In brief: All 52 people sentenced for robbery in the Eastern District of California in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term. The median prison term was 63 months, compared with 90 months for robbery in all 94 districts. In this district, 56% were sentenced within the guideline range.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 52 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.
A Prison Term for Every Person Sentenced
The U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type "Robbery" covers 52 people in this district over fiscal years 2016 to 2025. All 52 (100%) received a prison term, and none received probation only. Across all 94 federal districts, 99% of people sentenced for robbery were sent to prison.
Robbery cases were 1% of the 4,546 people sentenced in the district in those years.
How Long Were the Prison Terms?
The median prison term was 63 months (5.2 years). A quarter of the people received 56.5 months or less, and a quarter received 120 months or more. These are terms imposed, not time served.
The median for robbery in all districts together was 90 months. The median for all offenses in this district was 48 months. Robbery terms here were therefore higher than the district's overall median and lower than the median for robbery in all districts.
Position Against the Guideline Range
The guideline range is the range calculated under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. All 52 people had this information recorded. A total of 56% (29) were sentenced within the range, which is more often than the 40% for robbery in all districts and for all offenses in this district.
A below-range sentence without a government request applied to 19% (10), and a below-range sentence at the government's request applied to 13% (7). Above-range sentences applied to 12% (6).
Pleas, Trials, and Mandatory Minimums
A total of 50 of 52 (96%) pleaded guilty, and 2 were convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 96% had a written plea agreement, and 4% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 63 months. After a trial it was 316 months, but that figure rests on 2 people, and it cannot show how trials compare with pleas in general.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 10 of the 52 people (19%).
One Guideline, Few Cases per Year
All 52 cases used the same primary guideline, §2B3.1 (Robbery). The Commission's offense type is a category, and here it matches that one guideline.
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 24 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 28 people. Yearly counts range from 1 person in 2023 to 14 in 2020, so the yearly medians in the table rest on very few people in most years. A fiscal year runs from October 1 through the end of September.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 12 | 79.5 months | 100% |
| 2017 | 8 | 60 months | 8 of 8 |
| 2018 | 2 | 91.5 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2019 | 2 | 136 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2020 | 14 | 60 months | 86% |
| 2021 | 3 | 60 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2022 | 6 | 120.5 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2023 | 1 | 70 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2024 | 2 | 26.6 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2025 | 2 | 45.5 months | 2 of 2 |
Supervision, Restitution, Criminal History, and Installations
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 51 (98%), with a median term of 36 months. No fine was ordered for anyone, and restitution was ordered for 24 (46%). Criminal history category I applied to 38%, and category VI applied to 13%. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Beale AFB, Edwards AFB, and Travis AFB, all in California, are in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal court, and the federal numbers here stand on their own.
What the Numbers Leave Out
The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data. The records also give no reason for any individual sentence.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of California (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "California East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Robbery" (52). 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 Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of California, 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.