Federal Stalking and Harassment Sentences in the Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2025
The 2 people convicted at trial for stalking or harassing offenses in the Eastern District of Texas had a median prison term of 55.5 months. The 25 who pleaded guilty had a median of 27 months. In all, 27 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 24 (89%) received a prison term.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2 › Stalking and Harassment: Eastern District of Texas
In brief: The 2 people convicted at trial for stalking or harassing offenses in the Eastern District of Texas had a median prison term of 55.5 months. The 25 who pleaded guilty had a median of 27 months. In all, 27 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 24 (89%) received a prison term.
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 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.
Guilty Pleas Compared With Trials
Of the 27 people sentenced, 25 (93%) pleaded guilty and 2 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 27 months. After a trial it was 55.5 months, based on only 2 people.
A comparison built on 2 people cannot show how trials and pleas differ in general. It describes this small group only.
Overall Prison Terms
Among the 24 people sent to prison, the median prison term was 30 months (2.5 years). A quarter received 46.5 months or more, and a quarter received 17 months or less. These are imposed terms, not time served.
2 people (7%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. A mandatory minimum applied to 1 of the 27 (4%). Supervised release was ordered for 24 (89%), with a median term of 36 months.
Which Guidelines Were Used
"Stalking/Harassing" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type for these cases. The most common primary guideline was §2A6.1 (Threatening or Harassing Communications), with 20 people. Another 7 were sentenced under §2A6.2 (Stalking or Domestic Violence).
All of the guilty pleas (100%) had a written plea agreement. No fine was ordered for anyone, and restitution was ordered for 4 people (15%).
Against All 94 Districts
For this offense type in all 94 federal districts, the Commission counted 2,263 people. In that group, 89% were sent to prison and the median prison term was 24 months. The prison rate is the same as in this district, 89%. The district's median of 30 months is higher.
Guilty pleas were 93% here and 92% across all districts, which is about the same. For all offenses in the Eastern District of Texas, 98% pleaded guilty and the median prison term was 64.5 months. These cases make up less than 1% of the 7,998 people sentenced in the district.
Within, Below, or Above the Range
The guideline range is the sentencing range calculated under the Commission's rules. Of the 27 people, 13 (48%) were sentenced within the range. 7 (26%) were sentenced below it at the government's request, and 1 (4%) was sentenced below it without a government request. 6 people (22%) were sentenced above the range.
Across all districts, 47% of sentences for this offense type were within the range, and the district figure for all offenses was 64%.
Criminal History and Year Counts
In the lowest criminal history category were 41% of the group, and 7% were in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
The district sentenced 9 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 18 people in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. The fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30. Each year in the table has 2 to 4 people, so the yearly medians are not a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 3 | 42 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2017 | 2 | 21 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2018 | 2 | 39 months | 1 of 2 |
| 2019 | 2 | 33 months | 1 of 2 |
| 2020 | 2 | 48 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2021 | 2 | 21 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2022 | 3 | 53 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2023 | 4 | 21 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2024 | 3 | 20 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2025 | 4 | 31.5 months | 4 of 4 |
What the Records Cannot Show
The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it. The records do not explain any sentence or describe the conduct in a case.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Texas 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 (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 Texas, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Texas, 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.