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# Federal Stalking and Harassment Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-stalking-harassing-sentences-eastern-district-of-california/
- Published: 2026-11-04T11:08:24.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T11:08:24.000Z
- Description: In the Eastern District of California, 5 of the 27 people sentenced for stalking and harassing offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 were convicted after a trial. Guilty pleas were 81%, which is lower than the 92% for this offense type in all 94 districts. The median prison term was 28.5 months.
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-california/) › Stalking and Harassment: Eastern District of California

**In brief:** In the Eastern District of California, 5 of the 27 people sentenced for stalking and harassing offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 were convicted after a trial. Guilty pleas were 81%, which is lower than the 92% for this offense type in all 94 districts. The median prison term was 28.5 months.

Updated November 4, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025

This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 27 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/).

## Trials and Guilty Pleas

The U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type "Stalking/Harassing" covers 27 people in this district. Of the 27, 22 (81%) pleaded guilty, and 5 were convicted after a trial. The guilty plea rate was 92% for this offense type in all districts and 96% for all offenses in this district.

Among the guilty pleas, 91% had a written plea agreement, and 9% were straight pleas with no agreement.

The median prison term after a guilty plea was 25.5 months. After a trial it was 66 months, based on 4 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. That is a small group, so it cannot show how trials and pleas compare in general.

## How Many Went to Prison, and for How Long?

Prison went to 22 of the 27 people (81%), while 4 (15%) received probation only. The share sent to prison was 89% in all districts.

The median prison term was 28.5 months (2.4 years). A quarter received 12 months or less, and a quarter received 39.2 months or more. The median for this offense type in all districts was 24 months, and the median for all offenses in this district was 48 months. The figures are sentences imposed. Time served can differ.

## Guideline Range Position

Sentences are compared with the range the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines calculate for each case. Among the 26 people with this information, 10 (38%) received a sentence within that range, compared with 47% for this offense type in all districts.

The largest group, 46% (12), received a below-range sentence without a government request. A below-range sentence at the government's request applied to 12% (3), and an above-range sentence applied to 4% (1).

## Primary Guidelines

The most common primary guideline was §2A6.1 (Threatening or Harassing Communications), with 16 cases. The next was §2A6.2 (Stalking or Domestic Violence), with 10 cases.

A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 27 people (4%).

## Small Counts by Year

These cases were less than 1% of the 4,546 people sentenced in the district. Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 15 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 12 people. A fiscal year runs from October 1 through the end of September.

The table covers fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 2022 to 2025, with 2 to 5 people in each listed year. Counts this small do not show a trend.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 4                | 36 months     | 3 of 4         |
| 2017        | 4                | 12 months     | 3 of 4         |
| 2018        | 2                | 30 months     | 2 of 2         |
| 2019        | 5                | 33 months     | 3 of 5         |
| 2022        | 2                | 30 months     | 1 of 2         |
| 2023        | 3                | 0 months      | 3 of 3         |
| 2024        | 3                | 40 months     | 3 of 3         |
| 2025        | 4                | 30 months     | 4 of 4         |

## Other Penalties and Criminal History

Of the 27, 22 (81%) were ordered to serve supervised release, for a median of 36 months. One person (4%) was fined, and 7 (26%) were ordered to pay restitution.

In this group, 52% were in the lowest criminal history category, and 4% were in the highest. No criminal history field exists in court-martial records.

## Installations and What Is Missing

This district includes Beale AFB, Edwards AFB, and Travis AFB in California. Those installations appear in the site's court-martial data, which is a separate set of records from these federal figures.

Charges that did not end in a conviction are outside these records. Only sentenced people are counted.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of California (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "California East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Stalking/Harassing" (27). 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article)
- [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts)
- [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method)
- [Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-california/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-eastern-district-of-california/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-eastern-district-of-california/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-eastern-district-of-california/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of California, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-eastern-district-of-california/) (same district, other offense type)
- [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source)
- [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.