Federal Forgery, Counterfeiting, and Copyright Sentences in the Eastern District of New York, FY2016–2025
49 people were sentenced for forgery, counterfeiting, or copyright offenses in the Eastern District of New York in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. All 49 pleaded guilty. 38 (78%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 5 months, compared with 17.6 months across all 94 federal districts.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of New York, FY201 › Forgery, Counterfeiting, and Copyright: Eastern District of New York
In brief: 49 people were sentenced for forgery, counterfeiting, or copyright offenses in the Eastern District of New York in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. All 49 pleaded guilty. 38 (78%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 5 months, compared with 17.6 months across all 94 federal districts.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 49 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.
Short Median Prison Terms
38 of the 49 people (78%) were sentenced to prison, and 11 (22%) received probation only. The median prison term for the 38 was 5 months. A quarter received 16.8 months or more, and a quarter received 0.1 months or less.
For this offense type across all 94 districts, the median was 17.6 months, and 77% went to prison. For all offenses in this district, the median was 27 months. Courts impose these terms at sentencing, and time served can differ.
What the Offense Type Contains
The offense type, "Forgery/Counter/Copyright," is a grouping the U.S. Sentencing Commission uses. The most common primary guideline was §2B5.3 (Criminal Infringement of Copyright or Trademark), with 38 people. The next was §2B5.1 (Offenses Involving Counterfeit Bearer Obligations of the United States), with 11 people.
These 49 people were less than 1% of the 6,411 people sentenced in the district.
No Trials in This Group
All 49 people (100%) pleaded guilty. Nobody was convicted at trial, so there is no trial median to report. 98% of the pleas were made under a written agreement, and 2% were straight pleas.
The guilty plea rate was also 98% for this offense type nationally, and 95% for all offenses in this district.
Where Sentences Fell Relative to the Guidelines
Each case has a calculated guideline range. Only 5 sentences (10%) were inside it. 19 (39%) were below it at the government's request, and 25 (51%) were below it without such a request. None was above it.
Nationally, 47% of sentences for this type were within the range, and for all offenses in this district the share was 24%. No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 49 people with that information recorded.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
34 people (69%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, and the median term was 24 months. Courts ordered a fine for 9 people (18%) and restitution for 19 (39%).
Criminal History
88% were in Category I, the lowest criminal history category, and 0% were in Category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so the federal figure has no counterpart there. The records do not show the value of the goods or documents in any case.
Year-by-Year Figures
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 19 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 30. The table shows between 2 and 8 people in each year. One year's median was 0 months (fiscal year 2022), and another was 57 months (fiscal year 2025, based on 3 people). Groups this small cannot establish a trend.
The Commission data covers people who were convicted and sentenced. It has no entries for acquittals or dismissals.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 4 | 21 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2017 | 4 | 24.8 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2018 | 7 | 2.8 months | 7 of 7 |
| 2019 | 4 | 12 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2020 | 3 | 6 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2021 | 8 | 4.5 months | 8 of 8 |
| 2022 | 7 | 0 months | 7 of 7 |
| 2023 | 2 | 6 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2024 | 7 | 1.5 months | 7 of 7 |
| 2025 | 3 | 57 months | 3 of 3 |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of New York (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "New York East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Forgery/Counter/Copyright" (49). 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 Eastern District of New York, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of New York, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of New York, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of New York, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of New York, 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.