Federal Stalking and Harassment Sentences in the Eastern District of Michigan, FY2016–2025
The Eastern District of Michigan sentenced 51 people for stalking and harassment offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The median prison term was 18 months, compared with 24 months for all 94 federal districts. Of the 51, 47 (92%) received a prison term.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of Michigan, FY201 › Stalking and Harassment: Eastern District of Michigan
In brief: The Eastern District of Michigan sentenced 51 people for stalking and harassment offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The median prison term was 18 months, compared with 24 months for all 94 federal districts. Of the 51, 47 (92%) received a prison term.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 51 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.
A Lower Median Than the National Figure
The median prison term in this district was 18 months. For the same offense type in all 94 districts, the median was 24 months. The district figure is lower. For all offenses in this district, the median was 36 months.
A quarter of those sent to prison received 36.5 months or more, and a quarter received 9.5 months or less.
Of the 51 people, 47 (92%) received a prison term and 3 (6%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. For all 94 districts, 89% were sent to prison.
The Main Guidelines
"Stalking/Harassing" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type, assigned from the primary guideline. In this district, 36 people were sentenced mainly under §2A6.1 (Threatening or Harassing Communications). Another 15 were sentenced under §2A6.2 (Stalking or Domestic Violence).
Stalking and harassment cases were less than 1% of the 7,508 people sentenced in the district. The prison terms are not broken out by guideline in the records.
Pleas and Trials
Guilty pleas accounted for 48 people (94%), and 3 were convicted after a trial. For all 94 districts, 92% pleaded guilty. For all offenses in this district, 96% did.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 17.1 months. After a trial, it was 46 months, based on 3 people. A group of 3 is too small for a firm comparison.
Among guilty pleas, 88% had a written plea agreement and 13% were straight pleas.
Guideline Range
Within the guideline range were 59% (30) of the 51 sentences. Below the range at the government's request were 8% (4), and below the range without a government request were 33% (17). None was above the range.
For all 94 districts, 47% of stalking and harassment sentences were within the range. For all offenses in this district, 38% were. The share here is higher than both.
Other Terms Ordered
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 51 people (2%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 45 (88%), with a median term of 24 months.
No fine was ordered (0%), and restitution was ordered for 3 people (6%). In criminal history, 39% were in the lowest category (category I) and 14% in the highest (category VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Yearly Counts
There were 24 people sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 27 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. Fiscal years begin on October 1.
The table shows 2 to 8 people per year. Medians range from 8.4 months in 2022 to 46 months in 2017. Counts this small show no trend, and the records do not explain differences between years.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 4 | 19 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2017 | 7 | 46 months | 5 of 7 |
| 2018 | 5 | 10 months | 4 of 5 |
| 2019 | 8 | 40 months | 8 of 8 |
| 2020 | 6 | 15 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2021 | 2 | 16.1 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2022 | 5 | 8.4 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2023 | 4 | 11.5 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2024 | 5 | 16.2 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2025 | 5 | 18 months | 5 of 5 |
What Is Not Counted
Only people convicted and sentenced are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Michigan (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Michigan East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Stalking/Harassing" (51). 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 Eastern District of Michigan, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Michigan, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Michigan, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Michigan, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Michigan, 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.