> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Federal Forgery, Counterfeiting, and Copyright Sentences in the Eastern District of Michigan, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-forgery-counter-copyright-sentences-eastern-district-of-michigan/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:35:05.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:35:05.000Z - Description: In the Eastern District of Michigan, 19 of 23 people (83%) sentenced for forgery, counterfeiting, or copyright offenses received a prison term in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The median prison term was 16 months. Restitution was ordered for 20 of the 23 (87%), and all 23 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 Eastern District of Michigan, FY201](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-michigan/) › Forgery, Counterfeiting, and Copyright: Eastern District of Michigan **In brief:** In the Eastern District of Michigan, 19 of 23 people (83%) sentenced for forgery, counterfeiting, or copyright offenses received a prison term in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. The median prison term was 16 months. Restitution was ordered for 20 of the 23 (87%), and all 23 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 23 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/). ## Restitution and Plea Agreements in This Offense Type Money paid back to victims is the most distinctive feature of these cases. Restitution was ordered for 20 of the 23 people (87%). A fine was ordered for 1 person (4%). Every one of the 23 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and every plea had a written plea agreement. In all 94 districts, guilty pleas were 98% for this offense type. No one was convicted after a trial. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 23 people. ## Prison, Probation, and Supervised Release Of the 23 people, 19 (83%) were sent to prison and 3 (13%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. Across all districts, 77% of people in this offense type were sent to prison. The median prison term in the district was 16 months. A quarter of those sent to prison received 22.5 months or more, and a quarter received 9 months or less. For all 94 districts, the median was 17.6 months. Supervised release after prison was ordered for 19 people (83%), with a median term of 24 months. The prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served. ## Which Guidelines Were Used The offense type "Forgery/Counter/Copyright" is the Commission's category, assigned from the primary guideline. In this district, 22 of the 23 cases were sentenced under §2B5.1 (Offenses Involving Counterfeit Bearer Obligations of the United States). The remaining case used §2B5.3 (Criminal Infringement of Copyright or Trademark). Because nearly all of the cases fall under one counterfeiting guideline, the district's numbers describe counterfeit currency cases far more than copyright cases. ## Position Against the Guideline Range Sentences were within the guideline range for 52% of the people (12). For all districts, the share was 47%, and for all offenses in this district it was 38%. Below-range sentences without a government request were 39% (9), and one sentence (4%) was below the range at the government's request. One sentence (4%) was above the range. ## Yearly Counts Are Small Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 have 15 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 have 8 people. The table lists 7 fiscal years, and none has more than 7 people. The medians for single years are based on 1 to 7 people. The table below should be read as a list of small groups, not as a trend. In fiscal year 2024, the median prison term was 0 months for 2 people. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 7 | 12 months | 7 of 7 | | 2018 | 5 | 17 months | 5 of 5 | | 2019 | 3 | 20 months | 3 of 3 | | 2021 | 2 | 10.5 months | 2 of 2 | | 2023 | 1 | 33 months | 1 of 1 | | 2024 | 2 | 0 months | 2 of 2 | | 2025 | 3 | 24 months | 3 of 3 | ## Where This Group Fits in the District Forgery, counterfeiting, and copyright cases were less than 1% of the 7,508 people sentenced in the district across fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. For all offenses in the district, the median prison term was 36 months, which is higher than the 16 months here. In criminal history, 22% were in the lowest category (Category I) and 13% were in the highest (Category VI). ## Limits of the Data The Commission's data covers only people who were convicted and sentenced. Dismissals and acquittals are not in it. The records do not show the facts of any case or the reason a judge chose a particular sentence. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Michigan (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Michigan East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Forgery/Counter/Copyright" (23). 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 Eastern District of Michigan, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-michigan/) (overview) - [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Michigan, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-eastern-district-of-michigan/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Michigan, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-eastern-district-of-michigan/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Michigan, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-eastern-district-of-michigan/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Michigan, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-eastern-district-of-michigan/) (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.