District of Columbia

A U.S. district court in the D.C. Circuit, in District of Columbia. Its figures are federal cases and are never added to District of Columbia's.

People sentenced, FY2025: 423
Noncitizens, FY2025: 13%
Pretrial cases: –
Detained: –

Federal sentences

People sentenced in this court under the federal guidelines, by federal fiscal year (October to September), counted by CrimeDB from the Sentencing Commission's records. Dashed lines mark changes in federal sentencing law.

People sentenced, FY2002 to FY2025

FY2003: PROTECT Act, April 30, 2003: appeals courts review departures from the guidelines anew, and the Commission must cut downward departures.
FY2005: United States v. Booker, January 12, 2005: the guidelines become advisory, so FY2005 holds sentences from before and after.
FY2008: Gall and Kimbrough, December 10, 2007: judges may sentence outside the range with less reason given, including over the crack to powder ratio.
FY2010: Fair Sentencing Act, August 3, 2010: crack cocaine thresholds rise and the crack to powder ratio falls from 100 to 1 to about 18 to 1.
FY2019: First Step Act, December 21, 2018: a wider safety valve, no more stacked gun counts, and the crack changes made retroactive.
FY2024: Guideline amendments of November 1, 2023: fewer criminal history points for offenses committed under supervision, and a lower range for people with none.

Sentence type and length, FY2025

Share of people sentenced
Prison only	87%368	368
Prison and alternatives	2%10	10
Probation and alternatives	5%20	20
Probation only	6%25	25

Alternatives are home detention, community confinement, or intermittent confinement. The median prison term was 55 months (mean 87) for the 378 sentenced to prison, 8 of them to life; life and anything over 470 months count as 470, as the Commission counts them.

Percent sentenced to prison, FY2002 to FY2025

Median prison term in months, FY2002 to FY2025

FY2018: From FY2018 the Commission counts a sentence of time served with no amount given as one day of prison; before, it left those out of the prison term. Counted that way, FY2017's national median prison term would be 24 months, not 27.

People sentenced by offense, FY2025

Share of people sentenced
Drug Trafficking	25%104	104
Firearms	17%73	73
Assault	11%46	46
Administration of Justice	11%45	45
Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement	11%45	45
Robbery	6%26	26
Child Pornography	3%14	14
Murder	3%12	12
Sex Abuse	3%12	12
Kidnapping	2%9	9
Bribery/Corruption	2%8	8
Burglary/Trespass	2%8	8
Money Launder	1%5	5
National Defense	1%5	5
Individual Rights	1%4	4
Antitrust	<1%1	1
Arson	<1%1	1
Commercialized Vice	<1%1	1
Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses	<1%1	1
Other	<1%1	1
Prison Offenses	<1%1	1
Tax	<1%1	1

All 423 people sentenced, by the Commission's offense type (OFFGUIDE, by the primary guideline).

People sentenced in the District of Columbia by offense, FY2018 to FY2025

Offense	FY2018	FY2019*	FY2020	FY2021	FY2022	FY2023	FY2024*	FY2025
Drug Trafficking	78	77	66	38	53	87	107	104
Firearms	19	69	92	91	56	69	76	73
Administration of Justice	2	5	8	1	31	129	109	45
Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement	47	37	35	34	52	33	35	45
Assault	0	2	1	1	16	64	76	46
Burglary/Trespass	3	8	2	6	34	32	40	8
Robbery	13	12	5	10	10	13	14	26
Child Pornography	7	7	10	21	14	20	9	14
Prison Offenses	15	46	19	7	0	1	0	1
Bribery/Corruption	4	11	3	6	10	18	14	8
Sex Abuse	7	9	3	4	10	16	10	12
Money Launder	4	18	4	12	7	3	11	5
Murder	8	0	1	0	0	4	7	12
National Defense	0	7	7	4	1	3	4	5
Stalking/Harassing	2	6	5	3	5	2	1	0
Individual Rights	0	1	0	1	0	2	14	4
Kidnapping	1	1	1	2	4	2	2	9
Immigration	5	6	3	2	3	0	0	0
Tax	0	1	1	2	4	0	3	1
Extortion/Racketeering	0	4	0	2	1	1	1	0
Other	2	1	1	1	0	1	1	1
Forgery/Counter/Copyright	1	1	1	3	0	1	0	0
Arson	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1
Commercialized Vice	0	0	1	1	0	1	0	1
Drug Possession	0	0	1	1	1	1	0	0
Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1
Environmental	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
Antitrust	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
All offenses	219	331	272	253	312	503	536	423

By the Commission's offense type for these years (OFFGUIDE, by the primary guideline). Source: U.S. Sentencing Commission, individual offender datafiles, counted by CrimeDB.

* A change in federal sentencing law took effect in this fiscal year (listed under the timeline).

Earlier years, under the Commission's older offense types, are in the tables at the foot of the page.

People sentenced by citizenship, FY2025

Share of people sentenced
U.S. citizen	87%369	369
Not a U.S. citizen	13%53	53
Citizenship not known	<1%1	1

0 of the 423 were sentenced for an immigration offense.

People sentenced by race and Hispanic origin, FY2025

People sentenced by race and Hispanic origin, FY2025
Black, 6 placed by CrimeDB	50%213	213
White+MENA, 1 placed by CrimeDB	30%127	127
Hispanic	16%68	68
Asian+NHPI	3%12	12
Race unknown	1%3	3

Race and Hispanic origin as each person told the probation officer
Race recorded without ethnicity: split by the source's own recorded Hispanic share of each race

All 423 people sentenced. Race and Hispanic origin as each person told the probation officer. Hispanic is of any race; the other groups are not Hispanic. White+MENA includes Middle Eastern and North African people. USSC recorded a race and no Hispanic origin for 7 people in FY2025: each keeps that race, and CrimeDB placed only their Hispanic origin, the lighter part.

People sentenced by criminal history category, FY2025

People sentenced by criminal history category, FY2025
I	60%252	252
II	14%61	61
III	11%47	47
IV	5%22	22
V	4%18	18
VI	5%21	21
Category not known	1%2	2

All 423 people sentenced. By the category the court found, I (least) to VI (most), from points for prior sentences under the guidelines.

Sentences against the guideline range, FY2025

Sentences against the guideline range, FY2025
Within the range	41%175	175
Above the range	5%19	19
Below the range, government-sponsored	23%96	96
Below the range, not government-sponsored	31%133	133

All 423 people sentenced. In the Commission's four groups. Government-sponsored: the prosecutor moved for it, for substantial assistance, early disposition, or another reason.

Source: U.S. Sentencing Commission, individual offender datafiles, counted by CrimeDB.

Pretrial release and detention

Not in the tables

U.S. Courts' Table H-14 leaves out the District of Columbia.

Every figure as a table

People sentenced in the District of Columbia, by fiscal year

Fiscal year	People sentenced	U.S. citizens	Noncitizens	Citizenship not known	Immigration offenses
FY2002	420	367	46	7	21
FY2003	509	431	65	13	33
FY2004	570	488	73	9	45
FY2005	533	441	81	11	28
FY2006	460	385	70	5	31
FY2007	450	356	90	4	29
FY2008	409	316	77	16	11
FY2009	378	294	76	8	12
FY2010	394	286	105	3	9
FY2011	365	253	111	1	23
FY2012	355	269	84	2	24
FY2013	344	262	80	2	11
FY2014	339	268	69	2	15
FY2015	256	205	51	0	8
FY2016	255	201	54	0	4
FY2017	232	197	34	1	4
FY2018	219	182	35	2	5
FY2019	331	294	30	7	6
FY2020	272	237	32	3	3
FY2021	253	227	24	2	2
FY2022	312	294	18	0	3
FY2023	503	474	29	0	0
FY2024	536	479	55	2	0
FY2025	423	369	53	1	0

Source: U.S. Sentencing Commission, individual offender datafiles, counted by CrimeDB.

Immigration offenses are the Commission's offense type for the year (OFFTYPE2 to FY2009, OFFTYPSB to FY2017, OFFGUIDE from FY2018).

Sentence type in the District of Columbia, by fiscal year

Fiscal year	People sentenced	Prison only	Prison and alternatives	Probation and alternatives	Probation only	Fine only	Type not known	Sentenced to prison	Life sentences
FY2002	420	306	27	18	62	2	5	80%	5
FY2003*	509	368	12	44	73	6	6	76%	0
FY2004	570	446	20	37	65	2	0	82%	3
FY2005*	533	407	22	31	69	3	1	81%	10
FY2006	460	379	14	26	40	1	0	85%	5
FY2007	450	340	33	31	44	1	1	83%	6
FY2008*	409	320	29	21	39	0	0	85%	9
FY2009	378	297	16	24	41	0	0	83%	1
FY2010*	394	301	10	21	61	1	0	79%	3
FY2011	365	287	18	21	39	0	0	84%	10
FY2012	355	291	16	18	30	0	0	86%	5
FY2013	344	283	22	17	22	0	0	89%	0
FY2014	339	281	22	13	23	0	0	89%	2
FY2015	256	191	8	24	33	0	0	78%	3
FY2016	255	212	12	15	16	0	0	88%	0
FY2017	232	174	15	21	22	0	0	81%	1
FY2018	219	178	9	17	15	0	0	85%	4
FY2019*	331	273	31	10	17	0	0	92%	0
FY2020	272	230	13	10	19	0	0	89%	0
FY2021	253	215	13	5	20	0	0	90%	0
FY2022	312	258	9	18	27	0	0	86%	1
FY2023	503	438	21	21	23	0	0	91%	6
FY2024*	536	445	27	37	27	0	0	88%	2
FY2025	423	368	10	20	25	0	0	89%	8

USSC's sentence types (SENTIMP). Alternatives are home detention, community confinement, or intermittent confinement. Sentenced to prison: prison only, or prison and alternatives, of those whose type is known.

Source: U.S. Sentencing Commission, individual offender datafiles, counted by CrimeDB.

* A change in federal sentencing law took effect in this fiscal year (listed under the timeline).

Sentence length in the District of Columbia, by fiscal year (months)

Fiscal year	Sentence, mean	Sentence, median	People sentenced	Prison term, mean	Prison term, median	Sentenced to prison
FY2002	53	27	415	66	37	331
FY2003*	43	24	503	57	37	374
FY2004	49	25	570	60	38	457
FY2005*	56	30	532	70	39	421
FY2006	65	37	460	77	48	389
FY2007	50	24	450	60	36	362
FY2008*	66	36	408	83	57	323
FY2009	48	27	378	62	42	290
FY2010*	52	30	394	71	48	285
FY2011	57	24	365	74	46	278
FY2012	52	24	355	66	41	276
FY2013	51	30	344	61	40	280
FY2014	51	35	339	61	43	280
FY2015	45	19	256	61	37	187
FY2016	42	25	255	55	40	192
FY2017	45	26	232	56	42	182
FY2018	60	27	219	69	37	187
FY2019*	38	22	331	41	24	304
FY2020	37	22	272	40	24	243
FY2021	38	24	253	41	28	228
FY2022	44	32	312	51	37	267
FY2023	54	36	503	59	40	459
FY2024*	51	30	536	57	37	472
FY2025	79	46	423	87	55	378

Sentence: prison and alternative confinement, with probation and fines as zero (USSC's sentence length). Prison term: prison alone, for those sentenced to prison (USSC's length of imprisonment). Life and anything over 470 months count as 470, as USSC counts them.

Source: U.S. Sentencing Commission, individual offender datafiles, counted by CrimeDB.

* A change in federal sentencing law took effect in this fiscal year (listed under the timeline).

FY2018: From FY2018 the Commission counts a sentence of time served with no amount given as one day of prison; before, it left those out of the prison term. Counted that way, FY2017's national median prison term would be 24 months, not 27.

People sentenced in the District of Columbia by offense, FY2002 to FY2009

Offense	FY2002	FY2003*	FY2004	FY2005*	FY2006	FY2007	FY2008*	FY2009
Drugs - Trafficking, Manufacturing, and Importing	173	162	181	191	183	157	214	169
Firearms	69	124	140	136	106	51	23	20
Fraud	56	63	77	69	50	73	59	63
Immigration	21	33	45	28	31	29	11	12
Larceny	32	39	25	21	14	21	12	24
Bribery	4	10	10	19	13	13	9	13
Racketeering/Extortion	14	4	16	3	3	15	14	5
Traffic Violations and Other Offenses	5	9	13	10	7	8	3	7
Pornography/Prostitution	6	4	4	3	5	6	10	20
Robbery	10	11	5	4	6	10	6	6
Money Laundering	4	4	13	6	6	12	3	6
Administration of Justice	3	11	4	10	5	10	5	5
Embezzlement	2	6	8	4	7	11	6	3
Drugs - Simple Possession	3	8	13	11	3	3	3	2
Forgery/Counterfeiting	8	6	5	6	3	6	3	5
Kidnapping/Hostage Taking	1	0	2	0	6	4	7	6
Tax Offenses	3	1	2	1	2	5	9	3
Assault	3	4	2	6	4	2	1	0
Sexual Abuse	0	0	2	0	1	8	3	3
Drugs - Communication Facilities	0	1	1	1	1	1	3	0
National Defense Offenses	0	1	1	0	1	2	3	0
Environmental, Game, Fish, and Wildlife Offenses	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	3
Antitrust Violations	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3
Food and Drug Offenses	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Murder	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	0
Auto Theft	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Burglary/Breaking and Entering	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Civil Rights Offenses	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Prison Offenses	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Offense type not known	0	4	1	3	1	0	0	0
All offenses	420	509	570	533	460	450	409	378

By the Commission's offense type for these years (OFFTYPE2). Source: U.S. Sentencing Commission, individual offender datafiles, counted by CrimeDB.

* A change in federal sentencing law took effect in this fiscal year (listed under the timeline).

People sentenced in the District of Columbia by offense, FY2010 to FY2017

Offense	FY2010*	FY2011	FY2012	FY2013	FY2014	FY2015	FY2016	FY2017
Drugs - Trafficking, Manufacturing, and Importing	173	135	137	139	152	79	121	90
Fraud	82	58	68	64	33	51	36	39
Firearms	18	28	26	29	32	21	18	27
Immigration	9	23	24	11	15	8	4	4
Larceny	20	18	12	7	17	5	7	7
Child Pornography	16	12	5	12	14	10	9	9
Traffic Violations and Other Offenses	9	6	11	11	8	14	8	9
Administration of Justice	7	7	10	15	3	5	9	8
Bribery	12	10	10	8	7	8	6	3
Racketeering/Extortion	7	9	5	4	17	13	3	5
Robbery	8	14	6	11	7	4	8	5
Sexual Abuse	3	12	12	6	5	2	4	8
Tax Offenses	5	5	8	7	6	7	6	3
Money Laundering	4	7	4	7	1	9	6	1
National Defense Offenses	6	0	7	6	3	4	4	6
Assault	3	2	2	3	2	6	0	4
Drugs - Simple Possession	2	4	2	2	7	2	3	0
Kidnapping/Hostage Taking	1	8	0	0	7	1	1	0
Embezzlement	3	2	1	1	0	2	1	2
Forgery/Counterfeiting	6	4	1	0	0	0	1	0
Drugs - Communication Facilities	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	0
Manslaughter	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
Murder	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	0
Civil Rights Offenses	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
Environmental, Game, Fish, and Wildlife Offenses	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
Prison Offenses	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Food and Drug Offenses	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
All offenses	394	365	355	344	339	256	255	232

By the Commission's offense type for these years (OFFTYPSB). Source: U.S. Sentencing Commission, individual offender datafiles, counted by CrimeDB.

* A change in federal sentencing law took effect in this fiscal year (listed under the timeline).

People sentenced in the District of Columbia by offense, FY2025

Offense	People sentenced	Share
Drug Trafficking	104	25%
Firearms	73	17%
Assault	46	11%
Administration of Justice	45	11%
Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement	45	11%
Robbery	26	6%
Child Pornography	14	3%
Murder	12	3%
Sex Abuse	12	3%
Kidnapping	9	2%
Bribery/Corruption	8	2%
Burglary/Trespass	8	2%
Money Launder	5	1%
National Defense	5	1%
Individual Rights	4	1%
Antitrust	1	<1%
Arson	1	<1%
Commercialized Vice	1	<1%
Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses	1	<1%
Other	1	<1%
Prison Offenses	1	<1%
Tax	1	<1%

All 423 people sentenced, by the Commission's offense type (OFFGUIDE, by the primary guideline). Source: U.S. Sentencing Commission, individual offender datafiles, counted by CrimeDB.

People sentenced in the District of Columbia by race and Hispanic origin, FY2025

Race and Hispanic origin	People sentenced	Of which placed by CrimeDB	Share
Black	213	6	50%
White+MENA	127	1	30%
Hispanic	68	0	16%
Asian+NHPI	12	0	3%
Race unknown	3	0	1%

All 423 people sentenced.

Hispanic is of any race; the other groups are not Hispanic. White+MENA includes Middle Eastern and North African people.

USSC recorded a race and no Hispanic origin for 7 people in FY2025: each keeps that race, and CrimeDB placed only their Hispanic origin, the lighter part.

Source: U.S. Sentencing Commission, individual offender datafiles, counted by CrimeDB.

Of which placed by CrimeDB: the part of each group CrimeDB placed (race recorded without ethnicity: split by the source's own recorded Hispanic share of each race); the rest of each group is as USSC recorded it.

People sentenced in the District of Columbia by criminal history category, FY2025

Criminal history category	People sentenced	Share
I	252	60%
II	61	14%
III	47	11%
IV	22	5%
V	18	4%
VI	21	5%
Category not known	2	1%

All 423 people sentenced.

The category the court found (XCRHISSR), I (least) to VI (most).

Source: U.S. Sentencing Commission, individual offender datafiles, counted by CrimeDB.

Sentences in the District of Columbia against the guideline range, FY2025

Against the guideline range	People sentenced	Share
Within the range	175	41%
Above the range	19	5%
Below the range, government-sponsored	96	23%
Below the range, not government-sponsored	133	31%

All 423 people sentenced.

The Commission's four groups (SENTRNGE collapsed as its Sourcebook does).

Source: U.S. Sentencing Commission, individual offender datafiles, counted by CrimeDB.