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# Federal Robbery Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-robbery-sentences-eastern-district-of-north-carolina/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:32:39.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:32:39.000Z
- Description: Of the 333 people sentenced for robbery offenses in the Eastern District of North Carolina in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 332 (more than 99%) received a prison term. The median was 120 months (10 years), compared with 90 months across all 94 federal districts. After a trial, the median was 356 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 Eastern District of North Carolina,](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-north-carolina/) › Robbery: Eastern District of North Carolina

**In brief:** Of the 333 people sentenced for robbery offenses in the Eastern District of North Carolina in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 332 (more than 99%) received a prison term. The median was 120 months (10 years), compared with 90 months across all 94 federal districts. After a trial, the median was 356 months, based on 15 people.

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 333 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 Were Nearly Universal

One person received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. Everyone else in the group of 333 was sentenced to prison, and the median prison term was 120 months.

A quarter received 162 months or more, and a quarter received 84 months or less. Across all 94 districts, this offense type covers 14,845 people, and 99% were sent to prison. Terms are the ones imposed, not time served.

For all offenses in this district, the median prison term was 60 months.

## Sentences After a Trial and After a Plea

Guilty pleas made up 95% of the cases (318), and 15 people were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 115 months. After a trial, it was 356 months.

The trial figure is based on 15 people, so it is a small group. The data does not record the reasons for either number. Among the guilty pleas, 81% had a written plea agreement and 19% were straight pleas with no agreement.

## Mandatory Minimums

A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 190 of the 332 people with that information recorded (57%).

Supervised release followed prison for 332 people (more than 99%), with a median term of 36 months. Restitution was ordered for 252 people (76%) and a fine for 15 (5%).

## Where Sentences Fell Against the Guideline Range

Sentences were within the guideline range for 53% of the 333 people (175). Another 28% (93) were below the range at the government's request, 16% (53) were below it without one, and 4% (12) were above it.

Across all 94 districts, 40% of sentences for this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the figure was 56%.

## Guideline and Criminal History

"Robbery" is the Commission's offense type. In this district, 332 of the cases were under §2B3.1 (Robbery), and 1 was under §2X3.1 (Accessory After the Fact).

In the Commission's data, 20% were in the lowest criminal history category and 20% in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. Robbery cases were 4% of the 7,801 people sentenced in the district.

## Counts by Fiscal Year

Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 155 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 178\. The yearly median prison term runs from 96 months to 132 months in the table. Yearly counts run from 21 to 44 people.

Each fiscal year begins October 1 and ends in September.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 42               | 109 months    | 95%            |
| 2017        | 36               | 126.5 months  | 94%            |
| 2018        | 38               | 111.5 months  | 100%           |
| 2019        | 39               | 130 months    | 92%            |
| 2020        | 23               | 130 months    | 87%            |
| 2021        | 44               | 108 months    | 98%            |
| 2022        | 33               | 96 months     | 94%            |
| 2023        | 33               | 132 months    | 94%            |
| 2024        | 21               | 96 months     | 100%           |
| 2025        | 24               | 105 months    | 100%           |

## Installations and Limits

Camp Lejeune, Fort Bragg, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, and Seymour Johnson AFB are in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, and the numbers above are federal only.

Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of North Carolina (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "N Carolina East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Robbery" (333). 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 Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-north-carolina/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-eastern-district-of-north-carolina/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-eastern-district-of-north-carolina/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-other-sentences-eastern-district-of-north-carolina/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-eastern-district-of-north-carolina/) (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.