List of longest prison sentences
This is a list of longest prison sentences ever given to a single person, worldwide. Listed are instances where people have been sentenced to jail terms in excess of a human lifetime. Note that many national legislations worldwide do not allow for such sentences.
Since the sentence given is not necessarily equivalent to time served, see the list of longest prison sentences served for those who have spent the longest continuous time in prison.
Prisoners sentenced to more than one life imprisonment or to life imprisonment plus additional time
| Name | Sentence start | Sentence term | Country | Description |
| Terry Nichols | 1995 | 161 life sentences without parole | United States | Convicted of 161 counts of first-degree murder, first-degree arson, and conspiracy by the state court of Oklahoma for his part in the Oklahoma City bombing of April 19, 1995: also sentenced in federal court for terrorism and eight counts of involuntary manslaughter. Record for most consecutive life sentences ever given to a single individual. Due to so large number of life sentences, adding no parole possibility, it can be also declared as the longest officially confirmed sentence ever handed in the world. |
| Michael J. Devlin | 2007 | 74 life sentences | United States | Convicted of multiple counts of kidnapping a child in 2002, armed criminal action, a 2007 kidnapping, forcible sodomy, child pornography, transporting a minor across state lines to engage in sexual activity, attempted murder, and attempted forcible sodomy. |
| Abdullah Barghouti | 2004 | 67 life sentences plus 5,200 years without parole | Israel | Commander of Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades and one of its chief bomb makers. Sentenced for the death of 66 Israelis, he is held in solitary confinement and denied visits. Also the longest officially confirmed sentence ever handed outside U.S. |
| Gary Ridgway | 2003 | 49 life sentences plus 480 years | United States | Serial killer known as the "Green River Killer", who confessed to having murdered 71 women between 1982 and 1998. |
| Loi Khac Nguyen | 1991 | 49 consecutive life sentences without parole | United States | Surviving perpetrator of the 1991 Good Guys siege. Convicted of three murders, 11 attempted murders and 35 counts of kidnapping. |
| Martin Bryant | 1996 | 35 life sentences plus 1,652 years without parole | Australia | Mass murderer who pleaded guilty to murdering 35 people and injuring 23 others in the Port Arthur massacre, a shooting spree in Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia on 28 April 1996. Sentenced to the maximum penalty of life imprisonment for each murder, and an additional 1,652 years for wounding 23 people, shooting at 14 other people with the intention to kill, four counts of theft of a motor vehicle, three counts of arson and one of kidnapping. |
| Ariel Castro | 2013 | life without parole plus 1,000 years | United States | Pled guilty to 937 charges of kidnapping, rape, and aggravated murder. |
| Chester Stiles | 2009 | 21 life sentences | United States | Found guilty of 21 counts of rape of a 3-year-old |