Federal Stalking and Harassment Sentences in the Central District of California, FY2016–2025
In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 60 people were sentenced for stalking or harassing offenses in the Central District of California. Of those, 53 (88%) received prison, and the median prison term was 18 months. For the same offense type in all 94 federal districts, the median was 24 months.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Central District of California, FY2 › Stalking and Harassment: Central District of California
In brief: In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 60 people were sentenced for stalking or harassing offenses in the Central District of California. Of those, 53 (88%) received prison, and the median prison term was 18 months. For the same offense type in all 94 federal districts, the median was 24 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 60 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 in Stalking and Harassing Cases
The U.S. Sentencing Commission calls this offense type "Stalking/Harassing." In this district, 53 of 60 people (88%) were sentenced to prison, and 5 (8%) received probation only.
Among those sent to prison, the median term was 18 months. A quarter received 36 months or more, and a quarter received 12 months or less.
In all districts, 89% of 2,263 people were sent to prison, and the median was 24 months. The district's median for all offenses was 37 months. All of these are terms imposed, not time served.
Which Guidelines Applied
The most common primary guidelines were §2A6.1 (Threatening or Harassing Communications), with 39 people, and §2A6.2 (Stalking or Domestic Violence), with 17.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 2 of the 60 people with that information recorded (3%). These cases were less than 1% of the 9,958 people sentenced in the district.
Where Sentences Fell Against the Guideline Range
Of the 60 people, 20 (33%) were sentenced within the guideline range. Below the range at the government's request were 11 (18%), and below it without a government request were 20 (33%). Above the range were 9 (15%).
A sentence above the range applied to 15% of the people here. The records do not give the reasons for any sentence.
For all districts, 47% of these cases were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the share was 29%.
Plea and Trial Results
A guilty plea was entered by 51 of the 60 people (85%), and 9 were convicted after a trial. In all districts, 92% pleaded guilty. For all offenses in this district, the share was 95%.
The median prison term was 18 months after a guilty plea and 25.5 months after a trial. The trial figure is based on 8 people who went to prison. The records do not show how the trial cases differed in other respects.
Of the guilty pleas, 92% had a written plea agreement and 8% were straight pleas.
Criminal History and Other Orders
Most of these people had little criminal history on record: 62% were in category I, the lowest, and 7% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 53 people (88%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 3 (5%), and restitution for 7 (12%).
Yearly Counts From 2016 to 2025
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 17 people sentenced in this district, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 43. Each fiscal year starts October 1 and ends at the end of September.
Yearly counts range from 3 to 10 people. Yearly medians range from 12 months to 33 months. These counts are small, and the table does not show a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 4 | 14 months | 3 of 4 |
| 2017 | 5 | 20.5 months | 3 of 5 |
| 2018 | 3 | 31.5 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2019 | 5 | 12 months | 4 of 5 |
| 2020 | 4 | 12 months | 2 of 4 |
| 2021 | 5 | 18 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2022 | 10 | 18 months | 100% |
| 2023 | 10 | 33 months | 80% |
| 2024 | 7 | 32 months | 7 of 7 |
| 2025 | 7 | 12 months | 6 of 7 |
Limits of the Data
The data cover convicted, sentenced people only. They leave out acquittals, dismissals, and the details of what each person did.
Military installations in this district that appear in this site's court-martial data are Fort Irwin, Twentynine Palms, and Vandenberg SFB. Military courts, not this federal court, try courts-martial.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Central District of California (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "California Central") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Stalking/Harassing" (60). 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 Central District of California, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Central District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Central District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Central District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Central District of California, 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.