Federal Sexual Abuse Sentences in the Northern District of New York, FY2016–2025
The U.S. Sentencing Commission records 168 people sentenced for sexual abuse offenses in the Northern District of New York in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The median prison term was 202 months (16.8 years), compared with 180 months across all 94 districts. Of the 168, 166 received a prison term.
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In brief: The U.S. Sentencing Commission records 168 people sentenced for sexual abuse offenses in the Northern District of New York in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The median prison term was 202 months (16.8 years), compared with 180 months across all 94 districts. Of the 168, 166 received a prison term.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 168 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.
Trials Led to the Longest Terms
In this district, 14 of the 168 people were convicted after a trial, and 154 (92%) pleaded guilty. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 188 months. After a trial it was 445 months.
The trial figure is based on 14 people. It is a small group, and the records do not show how the facts of those cases differed from the cases that ended in guilty pleas.
Across all districts, 90% of people in this offense type pleaded guilty. The district rate was higher.
Prison Terms Compared With All Districts
Of the 168 people, 166 (99%) received a prison term, and 1 received probation only. One person received a life sentence.
Among those sent to prison, the median term was 202 months. A quarter received 360 months or more, and a quarter received 124 months or less. For all 94 districts together, the median was 180 months, so the district median was higher.
Sexual abuse cases were 4% of the 3,763 people sentenced in the district. The median for all offenses in the district was 24 months.
Which Guidelines Applied
"Sexual Abuse" is the Sentencing Commission's offense type, and it includes more than one kind of case. The most common primary guideline was §2G2.1 (Sexually Exploiting a Minor by Production of Sexually Explicit Visual or Printed Material), with 100 people.
Next was §2G1.3 (Promoting a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct with a Minor), with 63. Only 3 people were sentenced under §2A3.1 (Criminal Sexual Abuse), and 2 people under §2A3.4 (Abusive Sexual Contact or Attempt to Commit Abusive Sexual Contact).
Mandatory Minimums and the Guideline Range
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 148 of the 168 people (88%).
Only 25% of sentences (42 people) were within the guideline range, compared with 41% across all districts. The largest group, 53% (89 people), was below the range without a government request. Another 20% (34 people) were below the range at the government's request, and 2% (3 people) were above it.
Supervised Release and Other Orders
Supervised release followed prison for 165 people (98%), with a median term of 180 months. A total of 45 people (27%) received supervised release for life.
A fine was ordered for 5 people (3%), and restitution for 37 (22%). Among guilty pleas, 76% had a written plea agreement and 24% were straight pleas.
On criminal history, 74% were in the lowest category, category I, and 2% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Yearly Counts Are Small and Uneven
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 46 people sentenced, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 122. A fiscal year begins on October 1 and ends at the end of the following September.
Each year has between 7 and 28 people, and the yearly medians range from 144 months to 470 months. With groups this small, a small number of cases can move a median a long way, and the records do not support describing a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 13 | 470 months | 92% |
| 2017 | 7 | 144 months | 5 of 7 |
| 2018 | 17 | 300 months | 82% |
| 2019 | 9 | 240 months | 9 of 9 |
| 2020 | 16 | 231 months | 88% |
| 2021 | 19 | 204 months | 100% |
| 2022 | 23 | 180 months | 100% |
| 2023 | 19 | 162 months | 95% |
| 2024 | 28 | 225 months | 96% |
| 2025 | 17 | 255 months | 76% |
Scope and Limits
The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served. Fort Drum, New York, is in this district, but courts-martial are tried in military courts and not in this federal court.
The records cannot show the facts of any case or why a sentence fell above or below the guideline range.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of New York (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "New York North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Sexual Abuse" (168). 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 Northern District of New York, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Northern District of New York, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of New York, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of New York, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of New York, 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.