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# Federal Forgery, Counterfeiting, and Copyright Sentences in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-forgery-counter-copyright-sentences-middle-district-of-pennsylvania/
- Published: 2026-11-04T11:01:08.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T11:01:08.000Z
- Description: All 44 people sentenced for forgery, counterfeiting, and copyright offenses in the Middle District of Pennsylvania in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 pleaded guilty. Of the 44, 34 (77%) received a prison term, with a median prison term of 14.6 months. Restitution was ordered for 37 (84%).
- 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 Middle District of Pennsylvania, FY](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-middle-district-of-pennsylvania/) › Forgery, Counterfeiting, and Copyright: Middle District of Pennsylvania

**In brief:** All 44 people sentenced for forgery, counterfeiting, and copyright offenses in the Middle District of Pennsylvania in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 pleaded guilty. Of the 44, 34 (77%) received a prison term, with a median prison term of 14.6 months. Restitution was ordered for 37 (84%).

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 44 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/).

## Every Case Ended in a Guilty Plea

The U.S. Sentencing Commission counts these cases under the offense type "Forgery/Counter/Copyright". In this district, 44 of 44 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial. Across all 94 federal districts, guilty pleas were 98% for this offense type.

Among those who pleaded guilty, 91% had a written plea agreement and 9% were straight pleas with no agreement.

## Prison Terms and Probation

The data covers 44 people sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. Of these, 34 (77%) received a prison term. Another 8 (18%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.

Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 14.6 months. A quarter received 24 months or more, and a quarter received 3 months or less. These are the terms imposed, not time served.

Across all 94 districts, 1,994 people were sentenced under this offense type. In that group, 77% were sent to prison, which is about the same as in this district. The median prison term across all districts was 17.6 months, which is higher than 14.6 months here.

## Restitution Was Ordered More Often Than Fines

Restitution was ordered for 37 of the 44 people (84%). A fine was ordered for 3 (7%). A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 44 people with that information recorded.

Supervised release after prison was ordered for 34 people (77%). The median supervised release term was 24 months.

## Sentences Against the Guideline Range

The Sentencing Guidelines set a recommended range for each case. In this offense type, 34 people (77%) received a sentence within the range. Another 2 (5%) were below the range at the government's request. A further 7 (16%) were below the range without a government request. One person (2%) was above the range.

Across all districts, sentences within the guideline range were 47% for this offense type. The share within the range was therefore higher in this district. For all offenses in the district, it was also 47%.

## Which Guidelines Applied

Most cases fell under §2B5.1 (Offenses Involving Counterfeit Bearer Obligations of the United States), with 39 people. The next most common was §2B5.3 (Criminal Infringement of Copyright or Trademark), with 5 people.

The offense type is the Commission's own category. It covers more than one kind of conduct, but in this district it is mostly counterfeit currency cases by guideline.

## Criminal History, Size, and Yearly Counts

In criminal history, 50% of these cases were in the lowest category and 20% were in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

Forgery/Counter/Copyright cases were 1% of the 4,067 people sentenced in the district in the period. For all offenses in the district, the median prison term was 46 months and guilty pleas were 95%.

Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 18 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 26 people. The yearly counts are small, and the table shows medians that move widely from year to year. Counts this small do not show a trend.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 7                | 27 months     | 7 of 7         |
| 2017        | 1                | 15 months     | 1 of 1         |
| 2018        | 7                | 24 months     | 7 of 7         |
| 2019        | 3                | 2 months      | 3 of 3         |
| 2021        | 8                | 15 months     | 8 of 8         |
| 2022        | 2                | 0.8 months    | 2 of 2         |
| 2023        | 3                | 0.1 months    | 3 of 3         |
| 2024        | 10               | 3 months      | 100%           |
| 2025        | 3                | 24 months     | 3 of 3         |

## What the Records Cannot Show

The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it. It does not describe the facts of any case or explain why one sentence differs from another. This post reports federal numbers on their own.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Middle District of Pennsylvania (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Penn. Mid") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Forgery/Counter/Copyright" (44). 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 Middle District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-middle-district-of-pennsylvania/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-middle-district-of-pennsylvania/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-middle-district-of-pennsylvania/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-middle-district-of-pennsylvania/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-middle-district-of-pennsylvania/) (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.