> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Federal Stalking and Harassment Sentences in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-stalking-harassing-sentences-eastern-district-of-pennsylvania/ - Published: 2026-11-04T11:00:45.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T11:00:45.000Z - Description: In the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 38 people were sentenced for stalking and harassing offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 36 (95%) received a prison term, and the median was 23.5 months. After a guilty plea the median was 20 months, and after a trial it was 63 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 Pennsylvania, F](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-pennsylvania/) › Stalking and Harassment: Eastern District of Pennsylvania **In brief:** In the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 38 people were sentenced for stalking and harassing offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. 36 (95%) received a prison term, and the median was 23.5 months. After a guilty plea the median was 20 months, and after a trial it was 63 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 38 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/). ## Guilty Pleas Compared With Trials 31 of the 38 people (82%) pleaded guilty, and 7 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 20 months. After a trial it was 63 months, based on 7 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. Across all 94 federal districts, 92% of people in this offense type pleaded guilty, and 94% of all people sentenced in this district did. Among the guilty pleas here, 84% had a written plea agreement and 16% were straight pleas with no agreement. The comparison is between groups of cases. The records cannot show whether the trial itself changed the sentence. ## Overall Prison Terms 36 people (95%) received a prison term, and 1 (3%) received probation only. The median prison term was 23.5 months. A quarter received 13.5 months or less, and a quarter received 41.2 months or more. In all districts, 2,263 people were sentenced for stalking and harassing offenses, 89% were sent to prison, and the median was 24 months. For all offenses in this district, the median was 42 months. ## Which Guidelines Applied? "Stalking/Harassing" is a U.S. Sentencing Commission offense type, assigned from each case's primary guideline. 22 cases used §2A6.1 (Threatening or Harassing Communications), and 16 used §2A6.2 (Stalking or Domestic Violence). A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 3 people (8%). ## Sentences Within the Guideline Range Each case has a guideline range calculated by the Sentencing Guidelines. 53% of the sentences (20) were within that range, the largest share of any category. The range was not followed in the other cases: 29% (11) were below it at the government's request, 11% (4) were below it with no such request, and 8% (3) were above it. In all districts, 47% of sentences were within the range. For all offenses in this district, 34% were. ## Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History 36 people (95%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 10 (26%), and restitution for 5 (13%). 55% were in the lowest criminal history category, category I, and 3% were in the highest, category VI. ## Yearly Counts Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 15 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 23\. The highest yearly count was 8, in 2018\. Yearly medians range from 0.6 months to 87 months, and the 87-month median rests on 2 people in 2023. These counts are too small to show a trend. The records cannot show why a year's median differed. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 1 | 0.6 months | 1 of 1 | | 2017 | 3 | 23 months | 2 of 3 | | 2018 | 8 | 21 months | 6 of 8 | | 2019 | 3 | 24 months | 3 of 3 | | 2020 | 1 | 2 months | 1 of 1 | | 2021 | 2 | 7 months | 2 of 2 | | 2022 | 7 | 37 months | 6 of 7 | | 2023 | 2 | 87 months | 0 of 2 | | 2024 | 5 | 25.5 months | 5 of 5 | | 2025 | 6 | 24 months | 5 of 6 | ## What the Records Leave Out Stalking and harassing cases were less than 1% of the 5,462 people sentenced in the district. The Commission data lists only those convicted and sentenced. It has no acquittals or dismissals, and its prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Penn. East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Stalking/Harassing" (38). 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 Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-pennsylvania/) (overview) - [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-eastern-district-of-pennsylvania/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-eastern-district-of-pennsylvania/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-eastern-district-of-pennsylvania/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-eastern-district-of-pennsylvania/) (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.