Judge Leonard Terry Strand — Federal Sentencing Patterns

U.S. District Judge Leonard Terry Strand sits in the Northern District of Iowa (NDIA) and granted a downward variance in 243 of 527 federal sentencings (46.1%) from FY2016–FY2025. This page shows aggregate sentencing patterns for Judge Leonard Terry Strand, including the most common reasons cited on the Statement of Reasons (SOR) for granting a downward variance.

Top reasons Judge Leonard Terry Strand grants downward variances

Reasons included across all guideline chapters (243 below-guideline cases out of 527 cases identified)

ReasonCasesAvg % Below Min
  1. 1.Criminal History Issues (aggregated reason)110-38.6%
  2. 2.Policy Disagreement with the Guidelines (Kimbrough v. U.S. 552 U.S. 85 (2007)76-27.2%
  3. 3.Mental and Emotional Conditions (aggregated reason)41-38.8%
  4. 4.Non-Crack Drug Table Disparity40-23.4%
  5. 5.(5H1.5) Previous employment record38-45.3%
  6. 6.Lack of Youthful Guidance38-33.9%
  7. 7.(5H1.4) Drug dependence and alcohol abuse35-22.9%
  8. 8.(5K2.0) General aggravating or mitigating circumstance33-35.7%
  9. 9.(5H1.1) Age (Defendant's youth or old age)32-43.7%
  10. 10.Pursuant to a NONbinding (or unknown type) plea agreement26-34.0%

Zone D sentencing variance — Judge Leonard Terry Strand

Imprisonment-only recommended sentencing zone (offense level 14+ at any criminal history). Of Judge Leonard Terry Strand's 428 Zone D sentencings, 216 (50.5%) fell below range.

Zone D · imprisonment recommended428 cases
  • Within range
    163(38.1%)
  • Below range
    216(50.5%)
    avg −29.6% below min
  • Above range
    49(11.4%)
    avg +36.8% above max

Need case-level analysis for Judge Leonard Terry Strand?

Want to see what those 243 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 Leonard Terry Strand's trial tax (sentences after trial vs. plea) and the average §5K1.1 cooperation discount.

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