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# Federal Stalking and Harassment Sentences in the Eastern District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-stalking-harassing-sentences-eastern-district-of-tennessee/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:35:49.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:35:48.000Z
- Description: In the Eastern District of Tennessee, 20 people were sentenced for stalking or harassing offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. All 20 pleaded guilty, 19 (95%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 19 months, compared with 24 months across all 94 federal districts.
- 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 Tennessee, FY20](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-tennessee/) › Stalking and Harassment: Eastern District of Tennessee

**In brief:** In the Eastern District of Tennessee, 20 people were sentenced for stalking or harassing offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. All 20 pleaded guilty, 19 (95%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 19 months, compared with 24 months across all 94 federal districts.

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 20 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/).

## All 20 People Pleaded Guilty

The U.S. Sentencing Commission lists 20 people in this district under the offense type "Stalking/Harassing" for fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. Every one of the 20 pleaded guilty (100%), and none was convicted after a trial. That is a higher plea rate than the 92% for this offense type across all 94 districts, and a little higher than the 98% for all offenses in this district.

Among the guilty pleas, 85% had a written plea agreement. The other 15% were straight pleas with no agreement.

## Prison Terms

19 of the 20 people (95%) were sentenced to prison. None received probation only. The median prison term was 19 months. A quarter received 27 months or more, and a quarter received 10.8 months or less.

In all 94 districts, 89% of people sentenced for this offense type went to prison, and the median prison term was 24 months. In all offenses in this district the median was 70 months. The 19 months here is lower than both figures. The terms are those imposed, not time served.

No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 20 people with that information recorded.

## Which Guidelines Were Used

The offense type is a category set by the Commission. It does not match any single statute. The most common primary guideline was §2A6.1 (Threatening or Harassing Communications), with 15 people. A further 4 people were sentenced under §2A6.2 (Stalking or Domestic Violence).

The records give no facts about individual cases. They show the guideline and the sentence.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 3                | 18.6 months   | 3 of 3         |
| 2017        | 3                | 22 months     | 3 of 3         |
| 2018        | 3                | 12 months     | 3 of 3         |
| 2019        | 4                | 20.5 months   | 4 of 4         |
| 2020        | 1                | 10.6 months   | 1 of 1         |
| 2022        | 3                | 18 months     | 3 of 3         |
| 2023        | 1                | 120 months    | 1 of 1         |
| 2024        | 1                | 32 months     | 1 of 1         |
| 2025        | 1                | 24 months     | 1 of 1         |

## Sentences Against the Guideline Range

The guideline range is calculated under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. Of the 19 people with that information, 68% (13) were sentenced within the range. 21% (4) were below the range without a government request, and 5% (1) were below the range at the government's request. 5% (1) were above the range.

The share within the range was 47% for this offense type across all districts, and 48% for all offenses in this district. Sentences here were within the range more often than either figure.

## Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History

19 people (95%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 1 person (5%), and restitution for 3 (15%).

In criminal history, 42% were in the lowest category, Category I, and 0% were in the highest, Category VI. Court-martial records do not have a criminal history field.

## Small Counts by Year

These cases were less than 1% of the 6,452 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 13 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 7\. The table shows years with 1 to 4 people each, and no one in fiscal year 2021\. One person in fiscal year 2023 had a median of 120 months. Counts this small do not show a trend.

## Limits of the Data

The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Dismissals and acquittals are not included, so the data cannot show how many stalking or harassment charges ended without a conviction.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Tennessee (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Tennessee East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Stalking/Harassing" (20). 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.

## 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 Tennessee, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-tennessee/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-eastern-district-of-tennessee/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-eastern-district-of-tennessee/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-eastern-district-of-tennessee/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Money Laundering Sentences in the Eastern District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-money-laundering-sentences-eastern-district-of-tennessee/) (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.