Federal Stalking and Harassment Sentences in the Western District of Washington, FY2016–2025
In the Western District of Washington, 26 of 27 people (96%) sentenced for stalking and harassing offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term. The median was 14.8 months, which is lower than the national median of 24 months.
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In brief: In the Western District of Washington, 26 of 27 people (96%) sentenced for stalking and harassing offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term. The median was 14.8 months, which is lower than the national median of 24 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 27 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 in a Small Group
The Sentencing Commission's "Stalking/Harassing" offense type has 27 people in this district. 26 (96%) received a prison term, and 1 (4%) received probation only.
The median prison term was 14.8 months. A quarter received 34.5 months or more, and a quarter received 0 months or less. These are terms imposed, not time served.
How the Numbers Compare Nationally
Nationally, 2,263 people fall in this offense type. 89% went to prison, and the median was 24 months. This district sent a higher share to prison, with a lower median.
Guilty pleas were 92% nationally and 89% here. Sentences within the guideline range were 47% nationally and 33% here. For all offenses in the district, the share within the range is 35%.
Plea and Trial Sentences
24 people pleaded guilty, and 3 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 10.5 months after a plea and 84 months after a trial.
The trial figure covers 3 people, which is too few for a general comparison. The records do not show what each person was charged with, so the gap between the plea and trial medians cannot be tied to the choice of trial. Of the pleas, 96% had a written plea agreement and 4% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Position Against the Guideline Range
9 people were within the range. 12 (44%) were below it at the government's request, and 5 (19%) were below it without a request. 1 (4%) was above it.
A mandatory minimum applied to 1 of the 27 people (4%). A mandatory minimum is a prison term set by law as a floor. Sentences below the guideline range at the government's request are counted apart from those below it without such a request, because they have different sources.
Primary Guidelines
17 people were under §2A6.1 (Threatening or Harassing Communications). 10 were under §2A6.2 (Stalking or Domestic Violence).
These cases were less than 1% of the 3,992 people sentenced in the district. For every offense type there together, the median prison term was 30 months.
Supervision and Criminal History
26 people (96%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 1 (4%), and restitution for 5 (19%).
63% were in the lowest criminal history category, and 4% were in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Yearly Counts and Limits
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 6 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 21. The yearly counts run from 1 to 8, with 8 in fiscal year 2021. Yearly medians run from 0 to 60 months. With counts this small, the table shows no trend.
Bremerton, Washington and Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington are in this district. Courts-martial are heard in military courts. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the federal data.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1 | 10.5 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2017 | 1 | 0 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2018 | 2 | 0 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2019 | 2 | 45 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2020 | 1 | 60 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2021 | 8 | 7.4 months | 8 of 8 |
| 2022 | 3 | 30 months | 2 of 3 |
| 2023 | 5 | 12 months | 4 of 5 |
| 2024 | 3 | 36 months | 2 of 3 |
| 2025 | 1 | 3.5 months | 1 of 1 |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Western District of Washington (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Washington West") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Stalking/Harassing" (27). 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 Washington, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Western District of Washington, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Western District of Washington, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Western District of Washington, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Western District of Washington, 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.