Federal Robbery Sentences in the Middle District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025
Of the 302 people sentenced for robbery in the Middle District of North Carolina in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 297 (98%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 92 months, compared with 90 months for robbery in all 94 districts. Robbery was 8% of the district's 3,816 sentences.
· Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Middle District of North Carolina, › Robbery: Middle District of North Carolina
In brief: Of the 302 people sentenced for robbery in the Middle District of North Carolina in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 297 (98%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 92 months, compared with 90 months for robbery in all 94 districts. Robbery was 8% of the district's 3,816 sentences.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 302 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.
Prison Terms for Robbery
Nearly everyone sentenced for robbery in this district went to prison: 297 of 302 people. The other 5 (2%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
The median prison term was 92 months (7.7 years). A quarter received 144 months or more, and a quarter received 60 months or less.
For all 94 districts, 99% of robbery cases ended in prison, and the median was 90 months. The district's median is about the same. For all offenses in this district, the median was 60 months, so robbery terms are longer than the district-wide median.
Yearly Counts and Medians
The table lists each fiscal year. The count of people sentenced was 56 in 2019, and between 19 and 22 in each of 2021 through 2025. Counts in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 totaled 161 people, and counts in fiscal years 2020 to 2025 totaled 141 people.
The yearly median ranged from 58.5 months to 115 months. The records do not show why the counts or medians changed from year to year.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 35 | 115 months | 97% |
| 2017 | 38 | 58.5 months | 95% |
| 2018 | 32 | 87 months | 100% |
| 2019 | 56 | 78 months | 100% |
| 2020 | 36 | 84 months | 100% |
| 2021 | 22 | 94 months | 100% |
| 2022 | 22 | 110 months | 100% |
| 2023 | 20 | 109 months | 100% |
| 2024 | 19 | 110 months | 100% |
| 2025 | 22 | 98 months | 100% |
Only 3 Trials
Of the 302 people, 299 (more than 99%) pleaded guilty. Only 3 were convicted after a trial.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 91.5 months. After a trial it was 282 months, based on just 3 people, which is too few to show how trial sentences compare in general.
Among the guilty pleas, 97% had a written plea agreement and 3% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Guideline Range and Mandatory Minimums
The guideline range is the sentencing range calculated under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. In this district, 187 sentences (62%) were within the range, compared with 40% for all 94 districts.
Below the range at the government's request were 25 (8%), and below the range without a government request were 74 (25%). Above the range were 16 (5%).
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 56 of the 302 people (19%).
Restitution, Supervised Release, and Criminal History
Restitution was ordered for 256 people (85%), and a fine for 1 person (less than 1%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 297 people (98%), with a median term of 36 months.
In criminal history, 15% were in the lowest, category I, and 24% were in the highest, VI.
Which Guideline Applied
The offense type "Robbery" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's category, assigned by the primary guideline. For 299 people the guideline was §2B3.1 (Robbery). For 3 people it was §2X3.1 (Accessory After the Fact).
What Is Missing
The Commission's data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced, so it has no acquittals or dismissals. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
The records also do not show whether a weapon was used or what was taken, so the prison terms cannot be compared by those facts.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Middle District of North Carolina (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "N Carolina Mid") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Robbery" (302). 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 Middle District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Middle District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Middle District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Middle District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Middle District of North Carolina, 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.