Federal Forgery, Counterfeiting, and Copyright Sentences in the Central District of Illinois, FY2016–2025
All 17 people sentenced in the Central District of Illinois under the Commission's forgery, counterfeiting, and copyright category had the same primary guideline: §2B5.1 (Offenses Involving Counterfeit Bearer Obligations of the United States). Of the 17, 16 (94%) received a prison term, with a media
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Central District of Illinois, FY201 › Forgery, Counterfeiting, and Copyright: Central District of Illinois
In brief: All 17 people sentenced in the Central District of Illinois under the Commission's forgery, counterfeiting, and copyright category had the same primary guideline: §2B5.1 (Offenses Involving Counterfeit Bearer Obligations of the United States). Of the 17, 16 (94%) received a prison term, with a median of 10 months. That median is lower than the 17.6 months for all 94 districts.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 17 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 series, which builds on Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System. How the numbers were built: How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built.
One Guideline Covered Every Case
"Forgery/Counter/Copyright" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type, and it can include forgery, counterfeiting, and copyright cases. In this district, the sheet lists a single primary guideline for the group: §2B5.1 (Offenses Involving Counterfeit Bearer Obligations of the United States), for all 17 people.
The numbers below therefore describe counterfeit currency cases and do not describe copyright cases in this district.
The 17 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. They were less than 1% of the 2,440 people sentenced in the district in that period.
Prison Terms
Of the 17 people, 16 (94%) received a prison term, and 1 (6%) received probation only. Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 10 months. A quarter received 18 months or more, and a quarter received 7.1 months or less.
For all 94 districts, 77% of people in this offense type were sent to prison. The share was higher in this district, and the median prison term was lower. The median for all offenses in the Central District of Illinois is 70 months, which is higher than the 10 months for this group.
Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
Plea Versus Trial
Of the 17 people, 16 (94%) pleaded guilty and 1 was convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 8 months. The median after a trial was 48 months, but it rests on 1 person and cannot be read as a pattern.
Guilty pleas were 98% across all districts in this offense type and 94% for all offenses in this district.
Among the guilty pleas, 31% had a written plea agreement and 63% were straight pleas with no agreement. No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 17 people (0%).
Position Against the Guideline Range
Of the 17 sentences, 11 (65%) were within the guideline range. Another 3 (18%) were below the range without a government request, and 3 (18%) were above the range. None was below the range at the government's request.
Within-range sentences were more common in this group than the 47% for all districts in this offense type. They were also more common than the 36% for all offenses in this district.
Supervised Release, Restitution, and Criminal History
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 16 people (94%), with a median term of 24 months. Restitution was ordered for 11 (65%), and no fine was ordered for anyone.
In criminal history, 35% were in the lowest category, category I, and 12% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Small Yearly Counts and Gaps in the Data
There were 10 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 7 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. The largest single year in the table has 7 people, so the yearly medians describe small groups and should not be read as trends. Years missing from the table have no people listed in this category.
The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, so the records cannot show how many counterfeiting prosecutions ended another way.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 3 | 15 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2019 | 7 | 8 months | 7 of 7 |
| 2020 | 2 | 6 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2021 | 3 | 1 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2022 | 1 | 27 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2025 | 1 | 48 months | 0 of 1 |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Central District of Illinois (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Illinois Cent") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Forgery/Counter/Copyright" (17). 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 (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- Federal Sentences in the Central District of Illinois, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Central District of Illinois, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Central District of Illinois, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Central District of Illinois, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Child Pornography Sentences in the Central District of Illinois, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles (source)
- Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants) (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. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.