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# Federal Bribery and Corruption Sentences in the District of South Carolina, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-bribery-corruption-sentences-district-of-south-carolina/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:33:12.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:33:12.000Z
- Description: 40 people were sentenced for bribery or corruption offenses in the District of South Carolina in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 23 (58%) received a prison term with a median of 6 months, lower than the 18 months for this offense type in all 94 districts. 10 (25%) received probation only, and 39 of the 4
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [Federal Sentences in the District of South Carolina, FY2016–](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-district-of-south-carolina/) › Bribery and Corruption: District of South Carolina

**In brief:** 40 people were sentenced for bribery or corruption offenses in the District of South Carolina in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. 23 (58%) received a prison term with a median of 6 months, lower than the 18 months for this offense type in all 94 districts. 10 (25%) received probation only, and 39 of the 40 pleaded guilty.

Updated November 4, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025

This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 40 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. Acquittals and dismissals come from a second source, the Federal Judicial Center's records of 753,808 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. It is part of the [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/).

## Short Prison Terms for Bribery and Corruption

The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 40 people under the offense type "Bribery/Corruption." 23 (58%) received a prison term, and 10 (25%) received probation only. In all districts, 74% of the 3,259 people in this offense type were sent to prison.

Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 6 months. A quarter received 13.1 months or more, and a quarter received 3.1 months or less. The median for all districts was 18 months, and for all offenses in the District of South Carolina it was 48.2 months.

The table gives terms as sentenced, which differ from time served.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 2                | 0 months      | 2 of 2         |
| 2017        | 3                | 18 months     | 2 of 3         |
| 2018        | 3                | 9 months      | 3 of 3         |
| 2019        | 5                | 6 months      | 5 of 5         |
| 2020        | 8                | 1.5 months    | 8 of 8         |
| 2021        | 3                | 1.6 months    | 3 of 3         |
| 2022        | 10               | 12 months     | 100%           |
| 2023        | 3                | n/a           | 3 of 3         |
| 2024        | 1                | 12 months     | 1 of 1         |
| 2025        | 2                | 60 months     | 2 of 2         |

## What Guidelines Applied

Several guidelines fall under this offense type. The primary guideline for 26 people was §2C1.1 (Offering, Giving, Soliciting, or Receiving a Bribe). For 10 more, it was §2B4.1 (Bribery in Procurement of Bank Loan and Other Commercial Bribery).

2 people had §2C1.8 (Making, Receiving, or Failing to Report a Contribution, Donation, or Expenditure in Violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act), and 2 had §2C1.3 (Conflict of Interest). These cases were less than 1% of the 6,874 people sentenced in the district.

## Almost All Pleaded Guilty

Guilty pleas accounted for 39 of 40 people (98%), with 1 person convicted after a trial. Across all districts the rate was 91%, and across every offense in this district it was 98%.

After a guilty plea the median prison term was 6 months. The 1 person convicted at trial had a term of 18 months, which is too few cases for a comparison. A written plea agreement covered 69% of guilty pleas, and 31% were straight pleas.

## Position Against the Guideline Range

The guideline range was met in 23% of sentences (9 people). Another 40% (16) were below the range at the government's request, and 38% (15) were below it without that request. No sentence was above the range.

In all districts, 21% of sentences were within the range. In this district, the within-range share for bribery and corruption was about the same, and lower than the 47% for all offenses in the district.

## Fines, Restitution, and Supervised Release

A fine was ordered for 8 people (20%), and restitution for 11 (28%). 20 people (50%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months.

A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 40 people with that information recorded. On criminal history, 95% were in the lowest category, category I, and 0% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

## Yearly Counts Are Small

There were 13 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 27 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. The table shows 1 to 10 people per year. Medians range from 0 months in fiscal year 2016 to 60 months in fiscal year 2025, and fiscal year 2023 shows n/a. These groups are too small to show a trend.

## Installations and What Is Not Covered

The military installations in this district are Joint Base Charleston, Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, and Shaw AFB. Their courts-martial are outside this federal data.

Only convicted and sentenced people are counted, and no case facts are included.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of South Carolina (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "South Carolina") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Bribery/Corruption" (40). Offense types are the Commission's OFFGUIDE categories.

Federal fiscal years run from October 1 to September 30\. No person, judge, or lawyer is identified in any of these records.

### What to Keep in Mind

**No parole in federal prison; credit for good conduct.** Federal prison has no parole for crimes committed on or after November 1, 1987\. A federal prisoner can earn up to 54 days of good conduct credit for each year of the sentence the judge imposed, which is about 15%. Some federal prisoners can also earn First Step Act time credits, but many offenses make a person ineligible. The numbers in this post are the sentences judges imposed, not the time people actually served.

**Federal supervised release.** Most federal prison sentences are followed by a term of supervised release that the judge sets as part of the sentence. A person who violates it can be sent back to prison. A court-martial cannot sentence anyone to supervision after release. Military parole and mandatory supervised release are decided later by a board, not by the judge at trial.

**Who decides the sentence, and under what rules.** Federal judges sentence every federal case. They must calculate the Sentencing Guidelines range, which is advisory, and must impose any mandatory minimum the statute requires unless an exception applies. In courts-martial, the accused could choose sentencing by members until the rules changed. For cases in which every guilty finding is for an offense committed after December 27, 2023, a military judge sentences alone, within sentencing parameters. Courts-martial tried in 2024 and later include both old-rule and new-rule cases, and the data cannot tell them apart.

**Time periods.** Federal numbers are by federal fiscal year (October 1 to September 30), based on the sentencing date. The military numbers are by trial date. Neither source has the date of the offense, so a change in law shows up in either data set gradually.

**How life sentences and "time served" are counted.** In the federal numbers, a life sentence is counted as 470 months, and any other sentence longer than 470 months is counted as just under 470 months. A sentence of "time served" is counted as one day (0.03 months). Averages are affected by these rules; medians much less.

## Related Analysis

- [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article)
- [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts)
- [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method)
- [Federal Sentences in the District of South Carolina, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-district-of-south-carolina/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of South Carolina, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-district-of-south-carolina/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of South Carolina, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-district-of-south-carolina/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of South Carolina, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-district-of-south-carolina/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of South Carolina, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-district-of-south-carolina/) (same district, other offense type)
- [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source)
- [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source)

**About the author.** Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts *Where All The Bodies Are Buried* and runs the [Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.