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Federal Sentencing Trends Detailed in Sourcebook

May 30, 2007 — Extensive information about criminal cases sentenced under the federal sentencing guidelines is contained in the U.S. Sentencing Commission's 2006 Sourcebook of Federal Sentencing Statistics.

Highlights include sentencing profiles of judicial districts, detailed information on guideline departures, plea and trial rates by district and circuit, data on appeals of sentencing decisions, and information about organizational defendants.

Fiscal year 2006 statistics show that federal courts sentenced 72,585 cases under the guidelines, a 0.2 percent increase over FY 2005.

In FY 2006, 86.7 percent of all federal offenders were men. The average age of offenders was 34.8 years. Thirty-six percent of all defendants sentenced under the guidelines were convicted of drug offenses. And cocaine accounted for the largest number of drug violations - 43.9 percent.

Other common crimes were immigration offenses (24.5 percent), firearms offenses (11.7 percent), fraud (9.7 percent), and non-fraud white collar offenses (4.8 percent).