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# Federal Forgery, Counterfeiting, and Copyright Sentences in the District of Massachusetts, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-forgery-counter-copyright-sentences-district-of-massachusetts/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:59:41.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:59:41.000Z
- Description: The District of Massachusetts sentenced 13 people under the Sentencing Commission's "Forgery/Counter/Copyright" offense type in fiscal years 2016 to 2024. All 13 pleaded guilty. The 9 who went to prison (69%) had a median prison term of 11.5 months, while the median across all 94 districts was 17.6
- 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 Massachusetts, FY2016–2](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-district-of-massachusetts/) › Forgery, Counterfeiting, and Copyright: District of Massachusetts

**In brief:** The District of Massachusetts sentenced 13 people under the Sentencing Commission's "Forgery/Counter/Copyright" offense type in fiscal years 2016 to 2024\. All 13 pleaded guilty. The 9 who went to prison (69%) had a median prison term of 11.5 months, while the median across all 94 districts was 17.6 months.

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 13 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/).

## What the 13 Cases Involved

The Commission files each case under one primary guideline. Here, 8 people were under §2B5.3 (Criminal Infringement of Copyright or Trademark), and 5 were under §2B5.1 (Offenses Involving Counterfeit Bearer Obligations of the United States).

The group is less than 1% of the 4,847 people sentenced in this district over fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. The offense type covers several kinds of conduct, so the numbers below describe a mixed group.

## Who Went to Prison, and for How Long

A total of 9 of the 13 people received a prison term, and 1 (8%) received probation only. The median prison term for the 9 was 11.5 months. The longest quarter of terms started at 15 months, and the shortest quarter ended at 1.9 months.

Across all districts, 1,994 people were sentenced under this offense type, and 77% were sent to prison. Their median prison term was 17.6 months. The median for every offense type together in this district was 30 months.

## No Trials

All 13 people pleaded guilty, which is 100%. The rate was 98% across all districts and 95% for all offenses in this district.

Written plea agreements covered 62% of the guilty pleas. The other 38% were straight pleas, meaning the person pleaded guilty without a written agreement.

## How Sentences Related to the Guideline Range

The Sentencing Guidelines produce a recommended range for each case. Only 2 of the 13 sentences (15%) fell inside it. Another 4 (31%) were lower after the government asked for a lower sentence, and 7 (54%) were lower without that request. No sentence was above the range.

Across all districts, 47% of sentences for this offense type were inside the range. Across all offenses in this district, 29% were. No mandatory minimum applied to any of the 13.

## Money and Supervision

Restitution was ordered for 7 people (54%), and a fine for 5 (38%). Supervised release followed prison for 7 people (54%), with a median term of 24 months.

For criminal history, 69% were in the lowest category and 8% in the highest. Court-martial records do not record criminal history, so that comparison cannot be made.

## Year-by-Year Counts

A total of 9 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019, and 4 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. Federal fiscal years begin October 1.

No year has more than 4 people, and the table skips several years. The medians run from 3 months in 2019 to 41 months in 2023, and the 2023 figure is a single person. The yearly numbers are too thin to describe a pattern.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 4                | 12 months     | 4 of 4         |
| 2017        | 2                | 10 months     | 2 of 2         |
| 2018        | 1                | n/a           | 1 of 1         |
| 2019        | 2                | 3 months      | 2 of 2         |
| 2020        | 1                | 15 months     | 1 of 1         |
| 2023        | 1                | 41 months     | 1 of 1         |
| 2024        | 2                | 5.8 months    | 2 of 2         |

## Gaps in the Records

Only people who were convicted and sentenced appear here. People who were acquitted or whose cases were dismissed are missing. The prison terms are the sentences imposed, which differ from time served, and the records say nothing about the facts of each case.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of Massachusetts (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Massachusetts") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Forgery/Counter/Copyright" (13). 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 Massachusetts, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-district-of-massachusetts/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of Massachusetts, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-district-of-massachusetts/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of Massachusetts, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-district-of-massachusetts/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of Massachusetts, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-district-of-massachusetts/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of Massachusetts, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-district-of-massachusetts/) (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.