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Federal Prison Sentences

Federal judges around the country now send more than 40,000 persons a year to prison. For the 90 districts within boundaries of the United States, the median federal sentence in 1998 -- half got more, half less -- was 18 months. But there are three districts where the 1998 median was longer than 50 months, 60 in North Carolina East (Raleigh), 58 in Iowa North (Cedar Rapids) and 57 in North Carolina Middle (Greensboro). At the other end of the scale were three districts where the median was 0 -- more than half of the convicted persons were not sent to prison at all. These districts were Washington West (Seattle), Virginia East (Alexandria) and Louisiana West (Shreveport). Experts believe an important explanation for this wide range in sentences are the kinds of cases that U.S. Attorney chose to prosecute.