Federal Stalking and Harassment Sentences in the Southern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025
All 14 people sentenced for stalking or harassment offenses in the Southern District of Indiana in fiscal years 2017 to 2025 pleaded guilty and received a prison term. The median prison term was 22 months. For all 94 federal districts, the median in this offense type was 24 months.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Southern District of Indiana, FY201 › Stalking and Harassment: Southern District of Indiana
In brief: All 14 people sentenced for stalking or harassment offenses in the Southern District of Indiana in fiscal years 2017 to 2025 pleaded guilty and received a prison term. The median prison term was 22 months. For all 94 federal districts, the median in this offense type was 24 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 14 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.
Prison Terms for Stalking and Harassment
All 14 people (100%) were sent to prison, and none received probation only. The median prison term was 22 months. A quarter received 42 months or more, and a quarter received 12.3 months or less.
For all 94 districts, 89% of people in this offense type were sent to prison, and the median was 24 months. The median in this district was lower. For all offenses in the Southern District of Indiana, the median was 70 months.
Threats and Stalking Guidelines
The Commission's offense type is "Stalking/Harassing." The primary guideline was §2A6.1 (Threatening or Harassing Communications) for 11 people. For 3 people it was §2A6.2 (Stalking or Domestic Violence).
The records do not show how the contact happened or how long it lasted. They also do not show whether a threat or a pattern of stalking was involved in a given case.
Guideline Range
50% of sentences (7 people) were within the advisory guideline range. 21% (3 people) were below the range at the government's request, and 21% (3 people) were below it without a government request. 7% (1 person) was above the range.
Across all 94 districts, 47% of stalking and harassment sentences were within the range, compared with 43% for all offenses in this district. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 14 people (7%).
Pleas
All 14 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none were convicted after a trial. For all 94 districts, 92% pleaded guilty. This group has no trials to compare against the pleas.
Among those who pleaded guilty, 93% had a written plea agreement and 7% were straight pleas with no agreement.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 3 | 24 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2018 | 1 | 20 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2019 | 1 | 46 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2020 | 1 | 15.7 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2021 | 1 | 13 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2022 | 2 | 79.5 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2023 | 1 | 10 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2024 | 3 | 24 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2025 | 1 | 48 months | 1 of 1 |
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
Supervised release after prison was ordered for all 14 people (100%), and the median term was 36 months. A fine was ordered for 4 people (29%), and restitution for 1 (7%).
43% of the group were in criminal history category I, and 7% were in category VI. Court-martial records have no field for criminal history.
Small Yearly Counts
5 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 9 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. Yearly counts are 1 to 3 people. The yearly medians range from 10 months to 79.5 months, but no year has more than 3 people, so the table shows no trend. Fiscal years 2017 and 2024 had the most people, with 3 each. Fiscal year 2016 is not listed in the table. Every person in every listed year pleaded guilty.
These cases were less than 1% of the 4,205 people sentenced in this district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
What the Records Cannot Show
This data lists convictions only. It leaves out acquittals and dismissals, and it gives sentences imposed rather than time served.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Indiana (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Indiana South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Stalking/Harassing" (14). 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 Southern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Robbery Sentences in the Southern District of Indiana, 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.