Federal Stalking and Harassment Sentences in the Northern District of Oklahoma, FY2016–2025
30 people were sentenced in the Northern District of Oklahoma for stalking or harassing offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The median prison term was 18 months, compared with 24 months in all 94 districts. 43% were sentenced below the guideline range at the government's request.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Northern District of Oklahoma, FY20 › Stalking and Harassment: Northern District of Oklahoma
In brief: 30 people were sentenced in the Northern District of Oklahoma for stalking or harassing offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The median prison term was 18 months, compared with 24 months in all 94 districts. 43% were sentenced below the guideline range at the government's request.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 30 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.
Below-Range Sentences at the Government's Request
The guideline range is the range the court calculates under the Sentencing Guidelines. In this district, 43% of the 30 people (13) were sentenced below the range at the government's request. 20% (6) were below it without a government request.
30% (9) were sentenced within the range, and 7% (2) were above it. For all districts, 47% of sentences in this offense type were within the range, and for all offenses in this district the figure was 45%.
Prison and Probation
25 of the 30 people (83%) received a prison term, and 3 (10%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. For all districts, 89% were sent to prison.
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 18 months. A quarter received 37 months or more, and a quarter received 10 months or less. The median for all offenses in the district was 37 months.
Which Guidelines Applied
"Stalking/Harassing" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type. The main primary guidelines were §2A6.2 (Stalking or Domestic Violence), with 16 people, and §2A6.1 (Threatening or Harassing Communications), with 14 people.
These cases were less than 1% of the 3,400 people sentenced in the district in these years.
Everyone Pleaded Guilty
30 of 30 (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial. The guilty plea rate across all districts was 92%. Because no one went to trial here, there is no trial median.
97% of the guilty pleas had a written plea agreement, and 3% were straight pleas with no agreement. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 2 of the 30 people (7%).
Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History
25 people (83%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 0 people. Restitution was ordered for 5 (17%).
47% were in the lowest criminal history category, category I, and 17% were in the highest, category VI.
How the Years Compare
Fiscal years run from October 1 to the end of September. Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 have 5 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 have 25.
The yearly counts are between 1 and 7 people. The yearly median prison term goes from 0 months in 2020 to 60 months in 2025, but with 4 people in 2025 these are very small groups. They do not show a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2017 | 1 | 12 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2018 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2019 | 2 | 10 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2020 | 1 | 0 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2021 | 4 | 13.5 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2022 | 6 | 30 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2023 | 7 | 18 months | 7 of 7 |
| 2024 | 3 | 15 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2025 | 4 | 60 months | 4 of 4 |
What the Records Cannot Show
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
The records do not describe the facts of any case or explain why the government asked for a sentence below the range.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of Oklahoma (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Oklahoma North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Stalking/Harassing" (30). 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 Oklahoma, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of Oklahoma, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of Oklahoma, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Northern District of Oklahoma, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of Oklahoma, 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.