Federal Robbery Sentences in the Southern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025
In the Southern District of Georgia, all 68 people sentenced for robbery in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term. The median prison term was 117 months (9.8 years), compared with 90 months for robbery across all 94 federal districts. The count is small, and it covers only people who were
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Southern District of Georgia, FY201 › Robbery: Southern District of Georgia
In brief: In the Southern District of Georgia, all 68 people sentenced for robbery in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term. The median prison term was 117 months (9.8 years), compared with 90 months for robbery across all 94 federal districts. The count is small, and it covers only people who were convicted and sentenced.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 68 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 in This District
The U.S. Sentencing Commission recorded 68 people sentenced for robbery in this district over fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Every one of them, 68 of 68, was sent to prison. None received probation only.
The median prison term was 117 months. A quarter of the group received 170 months or more, and a quarter received 84.8 months or less. For all 94 districts together, the Commission recorded 14,845 people in the robbery category, 99% of them sent to prison, with a median of 90 months.
These are the terms the courts imposed. They are not the time actually served.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 12 | 117.5 months | 100% |
| 2017 | 8 | 123.5 months | 6 of 8 |
| 2018 | 7 | 96 months | 7 of 7 |
| 2019 | 9 | 124 months | 7 of 9 |
| 2020 | 5 | 106 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2021 | 9 | 111 months | 9 of 9 |
| 2022 | 3 | 132 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2023 | 5 | 163 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2024 | 5 | 147 months | 4 of 5 |
| 2025 | 5 | 114 months | 5 of 5 |
How the Cases Ended
Of the 68 people, 63 (93%) pleaded guilty and 5 were convicted after a trial. Across all districts, 95% of robbery cases ended in a guilty plea.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 114 months. After a trial it was 180 months. The trial figure rests on only 5 people, so it describes a very small group.
Among the guilty pleas, 98% had a written plea agreement and 2% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Mandatory Minimums and the Guideline Range
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 30 of the 68 people with that information recorded (44%).
Sentences within the guideline range were 63% of the cases (43 people). Another 16% (11 people) were below the range at the government's request, and 19% (13 people) were below the range without a government request. One person (1%) was above the range.
For robbery across all districts, 40% of sentences were within the guideline range. For all offenses in this district, the figure was 71%. Robbery sentences here were within the range more often than robbery sentences nationally, and less often than this district's cases overall.
What the Commission Counts as Robbery
"Robbery" here is the Commission's offense type, which groups cases by the primary sentencing guideline. In this district, all 68 cases used §2B3.1 (Robbery) as the primary guideline.
Robbery was 2% of the 4,115 people sentenced in the district in these fiscal years. For all offenses in the district, the median prison term was 48 months and 98% pleaded guilty.
Supervision, Fines, and Criminal History
All 68 people (100%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison. The median supervised release term was 54 months.
A fine was ordered for 5 people (7%). Restitution was ordered for 58 (85%).
In criminal history, 26% were in the lowest category I and 25% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so that comparison cannot be made with military cases.
Year-to-Year Counts Are Small
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 account for 36 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 account for 32. Single years range from 3 to 12 people. With counts this small, a change in the median from one year to the next does not show a trend.
The fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30. The table lists the yearly counts, medians, and guilty pleas.
What These Records Cannot Show
The Commission's data includes only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it, so the records cannot show how many robbery charges ended another way.
The records also cannot show the facts of any case or why a sentence was set where it was. Fort Gordon and Fort Stewart are in this district, but courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal district court.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Georgia (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Georgia South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Robbery" (68). 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 Southern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of Georgia, 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.