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# Federal Forgery, Counterfeiting, and Copyright Sentences in the District of South Dakota, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-forgery-counter-copyright-sentences-district-of-south-dakota/
- Published: 2026-11-04T11:07:43.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T11:07:43.000Z
- Description: 13 people were sentenced for forgery, counterfeiting, or copyright offenses in the District of South Dakota in fiscal years 2017 to 2025. 12 of them (92%) received a prison term, with a median of 15 months. All 13 pleaded guilty.
- 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 Dakota, FY2016–20](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-district-of-south-dakota/) › Forgery, Counterfeiting, and Copyright: District of South Dakota

**In brief:** 13 people were sentenced for forgery, counterfeiting, or copyright offenses in the District of South Dakota in fiscal years 2017 to 2025\. 12 of them (92%) received a prison term, with a median of 15 months. All 13 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 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/).

## A Group That Was Almost Entirely Counterfeit Currency Cases

The U.S. Sentencing Commission groups these cases under the offense type "Forgery/Counter/Copyright", based on the primary guideline in each case. In this district, 11 of the 13 people were sentenced under §2B5.1 (Offenses Involving Counterfeit Bearer Obligations of the United States). The other 2 were sentenced under §2B5.3 (Criminal Infringement of Copyright or Trademark).

These cases were less than 1% of the 5,041 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025.

## Prison Terms Compared With All Districts

12 of the 13 people (92%) received a prison term, and 1 (8%) received probation only. For all 94 federal districts, 77% of the 1,994 people sentenced for this offense type were sent to prison.

The median prison term here was 15 months. A quarter received 23.2 months or more, and a quarter received 0.8 months or less. For all districts the median was 17.6 months, and for all offenses in this district it was 36 months. The terms are those imposed, not time served.

## Pleas and Plea Agreements

13 of the 13 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none were convicted after a trial. For all districts, guilty pleas were 98% of this offense type. In this district, 100% of the guilty pleas came with a written plea agreement.

Because there were no trials, the data has no trial comparison for this group.

## Within or Below the Guideline Range

9 people (69%) were sentenced within the guideline range. 2 (15%) were below the range at the government's request, and 2 (15%) were below it without a government request. None were above the range.

For all districts, 47% of sentences for this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the share was 57%.

## Supervised Release, Restitution, and Criminal History

10 people (77%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, and the median term was 36 months. Restitution was ordered for 12 people (92%). No fine was ordered, and no mandatory minimum applied.

31% of the group were in the lowest criminal history category, and 8% were in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

## Yearly Counts

6 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019, and 7 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. The table shows 1 to 3 people in each listed year. The yearly medians run from 0.3 months to 41 months, and counts this small do not show a trend.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2017        | 3                | 0.3 months    | 3 of 3         |
| 2018        | 1                | 16 months     | 1 of 1         |
| 2019        | 2                | 1 months      | 2 of 2         |
| 2020        | 3                | 41 months     | 3 of 3         |
| 2023        | 1                | 21 months     | 1 of 1         |
| 2024        | 1                | 15 months     | 1 of 1         |
| 2025        | 2                | 1 months      | 2 of 2         |

## What Is Not in the Data

Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, is in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal district court.

The Commission's records cover only people who were convicted and sentenced. They have no acquittals or dismissals, and they do not explain why one sentence was short and another was long.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of South Dakota (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "South Dakota") 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 South Dakota, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-district-of-south-dakota/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of South Dakota, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-district-of-south-dakota/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of South Dakota, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-district-of-south-dakota/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Assault Sentences in the District of South Dakota, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-assault-sentences-district-of-south-dakota/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Obscenity and Other Sex Offense Sentences in the District of South Dakota, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-obscenity-other-sex-offenses-sentences-district-of-south-dakota/) (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.