Federal Robbery Sentences in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025
In the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 474 people were sentenced for robbery in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 468 (99%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 108 months (9 years), compared with 90 months for robbery in all 94 federal districts and 42 months for all offenses in this d
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, F › Robbery: Eastern District of Pennsylvania
In brief: In the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 474 people were sentenced for robbery in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 468 (99%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 108 months (9 years), compared with 90 months for robbery in all 94 federal districts and 42 months for all offenses in this district.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 474 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.
Robbery Prison Terms in This District
Of the 474 people sentenced, 468 (99%) were sent to prison. 2 (less than 1%) received probation only. The median prison term was 108 months, or 9 years.
A quarter of those sent to prison received 71.8 months or less, and a quarter received 154 months or more. Robbery was 9% of the 5,462 people sentenced in the district.
In all 94 federal districts, 14,845 people were sentenced for robbery and 99% were sent to prison. The district's median prison term for robbery was higher than the 90 months for all districts.
Mandatory Minimums in Robbery Cases
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 261 of the 473 people with that information recorded (55%). A mandatory minimum is a statutory sentence floor.
The records do not say which charge carried the minimum. They show only how many people in this offense type had one.
Pleas and Trials
435 people (92%) pleaded guilty, and 39 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 105 months. After a trial it was 192 months, based on 39 people.
Among guilty pleas, 83% had a written plea agreement and 17% were straight pleas with no agreement. For all offenses in this district, 94% pleaded guilty, and for robbery in all districts, 95% did.
The comparison between pleas and trials is between groups of cases. The records cannot show whether a trial caused the longer median.
Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range
The guideline range is the sentence range calculated under the Sentencing Guidelines. 29% of sentences (135) were within it. 49% (229) were below it at the government's request, and 20% (96) were below it without a government request. 3% (12) were above it.
For robbery in all districts, 40% of sentences were within the range. For all offenses in this district, 34% were.
Guidelines Used
"Robbery" is an offense type used by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, assigned by the primary guideline in each case. 472 of the 474 cases used §2B3.1 (Robbery). The other used §2X3.1 (Accessory After the Fact), and that guideline appears in the data once.
Supervised Release, Restitution, and Criminal History
465 people (98%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. Restitution was ordered for 399 (84%), and a fine for 30 (6%).
25% were in the lowest criminal history category, category I, and 19% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Yearly Figures
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 196 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 278. The yearly count ranges from 30 in 2020 to 65 in 2025, and yearly medians range from 87 months to 120 months.
The records do not show why counts or medians differ between years.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 45 | 108 months | 87% |
| 2017 | 49 | 101 months | 88% |
| 2018 | 59 | 120 months | 90% |
| 2019 | 43 | 87 months | 91% |
| 2020 | 30 | 120 months | 97% |
| 2021 | 31 | 97 months | 84% |
| 2022 | 40 | 108 months | 98% |
| 2023 | 58 | 120 months | 97% |
| 2024 | 54 | 102 months | 93% |
| 2025 | 65 | 118 months | 94% |
What Is Not in the Records
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, and prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Penn. East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Robbery" (474). 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 Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 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.