Federal Stalking and Harassment Sentences in the Southern District of New York, FY2016–2025
The Southern District of New York sentenced 47 people for the Commission's offense type "Stalking/Harassing" in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 45 of them (96%) received a prison term, and the median was 20 months. For this offense type in all 94 federal districts, the median prison term was 24 months.
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In brief: The Southern District of New York sentenced 47 people for the Commission's offense type "Stalking/Harassing" in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 45 of them (96%) received a prison term, and the median was 20 months. For this offense type in all 94 federal districts, the median prison term was 24 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 47 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.
Median Prison Term of 20 Months
Among the 45 people who received a prison term, the median was 20 months. A quarter received 28 months or more, and a quarter received 9 months or less. These are terms imposed, not time served.
Across all districts, 2,263 people were sentenced for this offense type. Of those, 89% were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 24 months. The district's share sent to prison is higher, and its median is lower. The median for all offenses in this district was 33 months.
One person (2%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
Which Guidelines Applied?
Stalking/Harassing is a Commission category, not one statute. Cases are placed in it by the primary guideline the court used.
§2A6.1 (Threatening or Harassing Communications) was the primary guideline for 35 people. §2A6.2 (Stalking or Domestic Violence) was the primary guideline for 11 people.
Together these cases were less than 1% of the 12,035 people sentenced in the district across fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
Guilty Pleas Compared With Trials
Of the 47 people, 42 (89%) pleaded guilty, and 5 were convicted after a trial. In all districts the plea rate for this offense type was 92%.
After a guilty plea, the median prison term was 19.6 months. After a trial, it was 27 months. The trial figure rests on 5 people, so it says little about how trial sentences usually compare.
76% of the guilty pleas included a written plea agreement, and 24% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Sentences Against the Guideline Range
For each case the court calculates a guideline range under the Sentencing Guidelines. Here, 38% of sentences (18) were within that range, and 13% (6) were above it.
Sentences below the range were 6% (3) when the government asked for it and 43% (20) when it did not. Across all districts, 47% of sentences for this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in this district it was 22%.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 2 of the 46 people with that information recorded (4%).
Yearly Counts Vary Widely
The district sentenced 14 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 33 people in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. A fiscal year starts October 1 and ends the next September.
Fiscal year 2022 had the most people, with 11. Several years had 1 to 5 people, so their medians rest on very few cases. The records cannot show whether any pattern in these counts will continue.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2 | 13.5 months | 1 of 2 |
| 2017 | 2 | 46 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2018 | 6 | 18 months | 5 of 6 |
| 2019 | 4 | 31.5 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2020 | 1 | 46 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2021 | 5 | 24 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2022 | 11 | 19 months | 91% |
| 2023 | 8 | 20 months | 6 of 8 |
| 2024 | 5 | 4 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2025 | 3 | 9 months | 3 of 3 |
Supervised Release, Criminal History, and What Is Missing
After prison, 45 people (96%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 2 people (4%), and restitution for 6 (13%).
Criminal history category I, the lowest, applied to 57% of the people, and category VI, the highest, applied to 9%. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
These figures describe only people who were convicted and sentenced. They leave out acquittals and dismissals, and they say nothing about the facts of any case.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of New York (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "New York South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Stalking/Harassing" (47). 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 New York, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of New York, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of New York, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of New York, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Robbery Sentences in the Southern District of New York, 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.