Federal Stalking and Harassment Sentences in the Northern District of California, FY2016–2025
All 17 people sentenced for stalking and harassing offenses in the Northern District of California received a prison term. The records cover fiscal years 2018 to 2025, and the median prison term was 20 months. For this offense type in all 94 federal districts, 89% were sent to prison and the median
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Northern District of California, FY › Stalking and Harassment: Northern District of California
In brief: All 17 people sentenced for stalking and harassing offenses in the Northern District of California received a prison term. The records cover fiscal years 2018 to 2025, and the median prison term was 20 months. For this offense type in all 94 federal districts, 89% were sent to prison and the median was 24 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 17 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.
All 17 Received Prison Terms
In this district, 17 of 17 people (100%) received a prison term, and none received probation only.
The median prison term was 20 months. A quarter received 28 months or more, and a quarter received 4 months or less. The spread between those figures is wide for a group this small.
In all 94 districts, 2,263 people were sentenced in this category. Of those, 89% were sent to prison and the median prison term was 24 months.
What the Category Contains
"Stalking/Harassing" is the name the U.S. Sentencing Commission gives to this offense type. The Commission sorts each case by its primary guideline.
Most of the cases in this district, 13 people, were sentenced under §2A6.1 (Threatening or Harassing Communications). The other 3 were sentenced under §2A6.2 (Stalking or Domestic Violence).
These cases were less than 1% of the 4,531 people sentenced in the district across fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The earliest year in the stalking and harassing records is 2018.
Sentences and the Guideline Range
Each case has a guideline range calculated under the federal guidelines. Within that range were 29% (5) of the 17 sentences.
A sentence below the range without a government request was the most common result: 41% (7). Below the range at the government's request was 24% (4), and above the range was 6% (1).
Nationally, 47% of sentences in this category were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the figure was 24%.
Guilty Pleas and Trials
Of the 17 people, 15 (88%) pleaded guilty and 2 were convicted after a trial. Among guilty pleas, 93% had a written plea agreement and 7% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The median prison term was 20 months after a guilty plea and 18 months after a trial. The trial figure is based on 2 people. Both medians are close, and the group is too small to support a comparison.
After Prison and Other Penalties
All 17 people (100%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months.
A fine was ordered for 2 people (12%), and restitution for 4 (24%). A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 17 (6%). On criminal history, 53% were in the lowest category, category I, and 0% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records do not record criminal history.
Counts by Fiscal Year
The federal fiscal year begins October 1 and ends September 30. The records show 7 people sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 10 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025.
The yearly table lists 1 to 5 people per year, and it has no rows for 2021. The yearly medians range from 5.5 months in 2024 to 37 months in 2023, and the 2023 figure rests on 1 person.
The records count only people who were convicted and sentenced. They do not show the facts of the cases, and prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 5 | 30 months | 4 of 5 |
| 2019 | 2 | 9 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2020 | 2 | 15.7 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2022 | 3 | 5.8 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2023 | 1 | 37 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2024 | 2 | 5.5 months | 1 of 2 |
| 2025 | 2 | 24 months | 2 of 2 |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of California (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "California North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Stalking/Harassing" (17). 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 Northern District of California, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Northern District of California, 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.