Federal Stalking and Harassment Sentences in the Western District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025
Of the 18 people sentenced for stalking or harassing offenses in the Western District of Louisiana in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 15 (83%) pleaded guilty and 3 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 24 months after a guilty plea and 27 months after a trial. Overall, 16 people (89%)
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Western District of Louisiana, FY20 › Stalking and Harassment: Western District of Louisiana
In brief: Of the 18 people sentenced for stalking or harassing offenses in the Western District of Louisiana in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 15 (83%) pleaded guilty and 3 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 24 months after a guilty plea and 27 months after a trial. Overall, 16 people (89%) were sent to prison.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 18 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.
Guilty Pleas and Trials
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 18 people in this district whose offense type was Stalking/Harassing. Of these, 15 (83%) pleaded guilty, and 3 were convicted after a trial.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 24 months. After a trial it was 27 months, based on 3 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. The trial group is small, so the figures are close but cannot be treated as a pattern.
In all 94 federal districts, 92% of people in this category pleaded guilty. For all offenses in this district, the share was 96%. Among guilty pleas here, 100% had a written plea agreement and 0% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Length of Prison Terms
Of the 18 people, 16 (89%) received a prison term, and 2 (11%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 24 months (2 years). A quarter received 36.2 months or more, and a quarter received 17 months or less.
Across all districts, 2,263 people were sentenced in this category, 89% were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 24 months. The district figures match the all-district figures for the median and the share sent to prison. For all offenses in this district, the median was 60 months.
Primary Guidelines
The primary guideline decides the category. §2A6.1 (Threatening or Harassing Communications) was the primary guideline for 17 people. §2A6.2 (Stalking or Domestic Violence) was the primary guideline for 1.
These cases were less than 1% of the 3,011 people sentenced in this district in the period. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 18 people with that information recorded (6%).
The Guideline Range
All 18 people had guideline information. Of these, 13 (72%) were sentenced within the range. Another 2 (11%) were below it without a government request, and 1 (6%) was below it at the government's request. 2 people (11%) were above the range.
In all districts, 47% of sentences in this category were within the range. The share here was higher. For all offenses in this district, 67% were within the range.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History
The court ordered supervised release to follow prison for 15 people (83%); the median term was 36 months. Fines applied to 4 people (22%), and restitution applied to 3 (17%).
On criminal history, 44% fell in category I, the lowest, and 6% in VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Counts by Year
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 account for 7 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 account for 11. The table has no rows for 2020 and 2021. Counts run from 1 to 6 a year, so the table does not show a trend.
In the table, the 2022 row shows 0 of 1 pleaded guilty, which is a single person convicted after a trial. Fiscal years start October 1.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2 | n/a | 2 of 2 |
| 2017 | 2 | 26 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2018 | 1 | 24 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2019 | 2 | 33.5 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2022 | 1 | 21 months | 0 of 1 |
| 2023 | 6 | 20.5 months | 4 of 6 |
| 2024 | 3 | 20 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2025 | 1 | 24 months | 1 of 1 |
Installations and Limits
Barksdale AFB and Fort Polk are in this district and in this site's court-martial data, but courts-martial are tried in military courts.
The Commission data leaves out acquittals and dismissals, and prison terms are the terms imposed rather than time served.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Western District of Louisiana (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Louisiana West") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Stalking/Harassing" (18). 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 Western District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Western District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Western District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Western District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Western District of Louisiana, 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.