Federal Stalking and Harassment Sentences in the Middle District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025
In the Middle District of Tennessee, 26 people were sentenced for stalking/harassing offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 23 of them (88%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 30 months. Across all 94 federal districts the median for this offense type was 24 months.
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In brief: In the Middle District of Tennessee, 26 people were sentenced for stalking/harassing offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 23 of them (88%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 30 months. Across all 94 federal districts the median for this offense type was 24 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 26 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.
What the Middle District of Tennessee Numbers Show
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 26 people sentenced for stalking/harassing offenses in this district between fiscal years 2016 and 2025. These cases were less than 1% of the 2,879 people sentenced in the district over the same years.
Of the 26, 23 (88%) were sentenced to prison and 3 (12%) received probation only. Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 30 months, or 2.5 years. A quarter received 39 months or more, and a quarter received 11.1 months or less.
The Commission's data covers only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it, and the prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
How This District Compares With All 94 Districts
For the same offense type, all 94 federal districts together sentenced 2,263 people. 89% of them were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 24 months. The share sent to prison here, 88%, is about the same as that national share. The median prison term here, 30 months, is higher than the national median.
Guilty pleas were less common in this offense type here than they were for all offenses in the district. 25 of the 26 people (96%) pleaded guilty, and 1 person was convicted after a trial. The national rate for stalking/harassing cases was 92%, and the rate for all offenses in the district was 96%.
The median prison term was 29.5 months after a guilty plea and 30 months after a trial. The trial figure rests on a single person, so it cannot be treated as a pattern.
Which Guidelines Applied
The Commission groups cases into offense types. "Stalking/Harassing" is one of those categories, and it is not the name of a single statute. Within it, the most common primary guideline was §2A6.1 (Threatening or Harassing Communications), with 21 people. The next was §2A6.2 (Stalking or Domestic Violence), with 4 people.
Most of the cases in this district fell under the guideline for threatening or harassing communications, which is a different charge from stalking itself.
Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range
The sentence was within the guideline range for 46% of the 26 people (12). It was below the range at the government's request for 19% (5), and below the range without a government request for 31% (8). 1 person (4%) was sentenced above the range.
Across all 94 districts, 47% of sentences for this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in the Middle District of Tennessee, the share was 26%. Sentences for stalking/harassing cases were within the range more often than the district's overall share.
No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 26 people with that information recorded.
Supervision, Fines, and Plea Agreements
23 people (88%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 1 person (4%), and restitution for none.
Among the guilty pleas, 84% had a written plea agreement and 16% were straight pleas with no agreement.
On criminal history, 52% of the people were in the lowest category I and 28% were in the highest category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so that measure has no military counterpart.
Cases by Year
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 account for 5 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 account for 21. The table lists each year that had cases. The yearly counts run from 1 to 7 people, which is too small to describe a trend.
The median prison term in each year moves widely, from 2.5 months in 2018 to 42 months in 2021. With so few people in each year, one case can change the median.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2 | 34 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2017 | 1 | 10.2 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2018 | 2 | 2.5 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2020 | 3 | 33 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2021 | 2 | 42 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2022 | 2 | 18.1 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2023 | 3 | 17.5 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2024 | 4 | 40.5 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2025 | 7 | 23 months | 6 of 7 |
What the Records Cannot Show
The data does not describe the facts of any case, the charges that were dropped, or the reasons for any sentence. It also does not show how these numbers compare with military courts, and this post reports federal numbers on their own.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Middle District of Tennessee (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Tennessee Mid") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Stalking/Harassing" (26). 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 (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- Federal Sentences in the Middle District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Middle District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Middle District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Middle District of Tennessee, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Middle District of Tennessee, 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.