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# Federal Forgery, Counterfeiting, and Copyright Sentences in the Northern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-forgery-counter-copyright-sentences-northern-district-of-georgia/
- Published: 2026-11-04T11:03:12.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T11:03:12.000Z
- Description: Of the 18 people sentenced in the Northern District of Georgia for forgery, counterfeiting, and copyright offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 11 (61%) received a prison term and 3 (17%) received probation only. Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 21.3 months. Most of the cases
- 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 Northern District of Georgia, FY201](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-northern-district-of-georgia/) › Forgery, Counterfeiting, and Copyright: Northern District of Georgia

**In brief:** Of the 18 people sentenced in the Northern District of Georgia for forgery, counterfeiting, and copyright offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 11 (61%) received a prison term and 3 (17%) received probation only. Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 21.3 months. Most of the cases were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019.

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 18 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 Small Group, Mostly From the Early Years

The U.S. Sentencing Commission sorts every sentenced case into an offense type. This post covers the type named "Forgery/Counter/Copyright" in the Northern District of Georgia. The group has 18 people, which is less than 1% of the 5,362 people sentenced in the district over fiscal years 2016 to 2025.

16 of the 18 were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019, and 2 were sentenced in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. The table shows 9 people in fiscal year 2018 and 1 or 2 or 3 people in each other year listed. Counts this small do not show a trend.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 2                | 39.5 months   | 2 of 2         |
| 2017        | 3                | 16 months     | 2 of 3         |
| 2018        | 9                | 13.5 months   | 9 of 9         |
| 2019        | 2                | 21.3 months   | 2 of 2         |
| 2021        | 1                | 24 months     | 1 of 1         |
| 2024        | 1                | n/a           | 1 of 1         |

## How Long Were the Prison Terms?

The median prison term was 21.3 months among the 11 people sent to prison. A quarter received 39.5 months or more, and a quarter received 13.5 months or less. These are the terms imposed, not the time served.

After a guilty plea, the median prison term was 22.6 months. After a trial, it was 16 months, but that figure rests on 1 person convicted at trial and sent to prison. A single case cannot show how trial and plea sentences compare.

No one in the group had a mandatory minimum prison term recorded: 0 of 18\. A mandatory minimum is a floor that the statute sets for the prison term.

## Where Sentences Fell Against the Guideline Range

Federal judges calculate an advisory guideline range for each case. Within the range was the position for 17% (3) of these sentences. Below the range at the government's request was 61% (11), and below the range without a government request was 22% (4). None was above the range.

Within-range sentences were less common here than across all 94 districts for this offense type, where the figure is 47%. They were also less common than for all offenses in the Northern District of Georgia, where the figure is 32%.

## Pleas, Plea Agreements, and Other Conditions

17 of 18 (94%) pleaded guilty, and 1 was convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 100% had a written plea agreement.

11 (61%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 1 (6%), and restitution for 4 (22%). In criminal history, 78% were in the lowest category I and 0% in the highest VI.

## Comparison With All 94 Federal Districts

Across all 94 districts, 1,994 people were sentenced for this offense type. 77% were sent to prison, the median prison term was 17.6 months, and 98% pleaded guilty.

In this district, prison was less common (61%) and the median prison term was higher (21.3 months). Guilty pleas were about as common (94%). For all offenses in the district, the median prison term was 41 months and guilty pleas were 96%.

## Which Guidelines Applied?

The most common primary guideline was §2B5.3 (Criminal Infringement of Copyright or Trademark), used in 14 cases. The next was §2B5.1 (Offenses Involving Counterfeit Bearer Obligations of the United States), used in 4 cases.

## What These Numbers Cannot Show

The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data. The records also give no facts about any individual case, so they cannot explain why one sentence was longer than another.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of Georgia (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Georgia North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Forgery/Counter/Copyright" (18). 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 Northern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-northern-district-of-georgia/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-northern-district-of-georgia/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-northern-district-of-georgia/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Northern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-northern-district-of-georgia/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-northern-district-of-georgia/) (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.