Federal Forgery, Counterfeiting, and Copyright Sentences in the District of Utah, FY2016–2025
11 people were sentenced in the District of Utah for forgery, counterfeiting, and copyright offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. All 11 pleaded guilty, 9 (82%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 12 months. The median for this offense type in all 94 districts was 17.6 months.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the District of Utah, FY2016–2025 › Forgery, Counterfeiting, and Copyright: District of Utah
In brief: 11 people were sentenced in the District of Utah for forgery, counterfeiting, and copyright offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. All 11 pleaded guilty, 9 (82%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 12 months. The median for this offense type in all 94 districts was 17.6 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 11 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.
Counterfeit Currency Cases Dominated the Group
The U.S. Sentencing Commission groups these cases under the offense type "Forgery/Counter/Copyright." The offense type is a category, not one statute. In the District of Utah, 10 of the 11 people had §2B5.1 (Offenses Involving Counterfeit Bearer Obligations of the United States) as the primary guideline.
The other person had §2X1.1 (Attempt, Solicitation, or Conspiracy (Not Covered by a Specific Offense Guideline)) as the primary guideline. No copyright guideline appears among the primary guidelines listed for this group.
Prison Terms
9 of the 11 people (82%) were sent to prison, and 2 (18%) received probation only. For all districts, 77% of the 1,994 people in this offense type were sent to prison.
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 12 months. A quarter received 24 months or more, and a quarter received 12 months or less. The median for all offenses in the District of Utah was 30 months, so forgery and counterfeiting terms were lower than the district's overall median.
These are the terms imposed, not time served.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2 | 16 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2018 | 1 | 30 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2019 | 3 | 18 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2023 | 3 | 12 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2024 | 1 | 12 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2025 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
All 11 Pleaded Guilty
11 of 11 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none were convicted after a trial. The rate was 98% for this offense type in all districts and 99% for all offenses in the District of Utah.
Every guilty plea (100%) had a written plea agreement. Because the data lists only people who were convicted and sentenced, it says nothing about people who were charged and then acquitted or had charges dismissed.
Against the Guideline Range
Of the 11 people with this information, 45% (5) were sentenced within the range. Another 36% (4) were sentenced below the range at the government's request, and 18% (2) below the range without a government request. No one was sentenced above the range.
The within-range share was about the same as the 47% for this offense type in all districts. It was higher than the 24% for all offenses in the District of Utah.
Supervised Release, Restitution, and Criminal History
After prison, 9 people (82%) were placed on supervised release for a median of 36 months. The court ordered restitution for 7 people (64%) and a fine for none.
No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 11 people.
On criminal history, 18% were in the lowest category, category I, and 9% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Years With Cases
There were 6 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 5 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. The table has no rows for fiscal years 2017, 2020, 2021, or 2022. Fiscal year 2025 shows n/a for the median because no median is available for that year.
With no more than 3 people in any year, the table cannot show a trend. These cases were less than 1% of the 7,061 people sentenced in the district.
What Is Not Covered
This post covers federal court only. Hill AFB, Utah, lies within the district, but courts-martial are heard in military courts and are not part of these numbers.
Nothing in the Commission data describes what happened in a given case, so the numbers cannot explain a longer or shorter term.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of Utah (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Utah") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Forgery/Counter/Copyright" (11). 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 District of Utah, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of Utah, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of Utah, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of Utah, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of Utah, 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.