Judge David Gregory Kays — Federal Sentencing Patterns
U.S. District Judge David Gregory Kays sits in the Western District of Missouri (WDMO) and granted a downward variance in 250 of 714 federal sentencings (35.0%) from FY2012–FY2025. This page shows aggregate sentencing patterns for Judge David Gregory Kays, including the most common reasons cited on the Statement of Reasons (SOR) for granting a downward variance.
Top reasons Judge David Gregory Kays grants downward variances
Reasons included across all guideline chapters (250 below-guideline cases out of 714 cases identified)
- 1.Avoid unwarranted sentencing disparities among defendants46-28.8%
- 2.Reduce Disparity (aggregated reason)39-32.9%
- 3.Unspecified government motion (Not 5K1.1 or 5K3.1)35-51.5%
- 4.Pursuant to a NONbinding (or unknown type) plea agreement20-58.1%
- 5.Acceptance of responsibility7-22.9%
- 6.Proposed changes to the 2D1.1 drug quantity table6-52.0%
- 7.(5H1.1) Age (Defendant's youth or old age)6-37.4%
- 8.Party Motion /Agreement /Consent (Reason Unspecified)5-45.8%
- 9.(5H1.4) Physical condition3-87.6%
- 10.Applied proposed guideline amendment3-78.7%
Zone D sentencing variance — Judge David Gregory Kays
Imprisonment-only recommended sentencing zone (offense level 14+ at any criminal history). Of Judge David Gregory Kays's 641 Zone D sentencings, 222 (34.6%) fell below range.
- Within range272(42.4%)
- Below range222(34.6%)avg −37.0% below min
- Above range147(22.9%)avg +45.5% above max
Need case-level analysis for Judge David Gregory Kays?
Want to see what those 250 below-guideline cases actually looked like? Just Metrics shows you the actual matched cases — same judge, same guideline chapter, same guideline range — and tells you what they did.
Just Metrics also surfaces Judge David Gregory Kays's trial tax (sentences after trial vs. plea) and the average §5K1.1 cooperation discount.