Federal Forgery, Counterfeiting, and Copyright Sentences in the Northern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025
Of the 13 people sentenced for forgery, counterfeiting, or copyright offenses in the Northern District of Indiana, 7 (54%) received a prison term and 2 (15%) received probation only. The median prison term was 18 months. All 13 pleaded guilty, and all 13 were sentenced in fiscal years 2017 to 2022.
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In brief: Of the 13 people sentenced for forgery, counterfeiting, or copyright offenses in the Northern District of Indiana, 7 (54%) received a prison term and 2 (15%) received probation only. The median prison term was 18 months. All 13 pleaded guilty, and all 13 were sentenced in fiscal years 2017 to 2022.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 13 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.
A Small Group With Mixed Outcomes
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 13 people in its "Forgery/Counter/Copyright" offense type for this district over fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Their sentences were recorded only in fiscal years 2017 to 2022.
Of the 13 people, 7 (54%) were sent to prison, and 2 (15%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The sheet does not report the other outcomes for the rest. Across all 94 districts, 77% of people in this offense type were sent to prison.
Counterfeit Currency Was the Main Guideline
The offense type is the Commission's own grouping, based on the main guideline used at sentencing. In this district, 12 of the 13 cases used §2B5.1 (Offenses Involving Counterfeit Bearer Obligations of the United States).
The other case used §2B5.3 (Criminal Infringement of Copyright or Trademark). Copyright and trademark cases are therefore nearly absent here, even though the category name includes them.
Length of Prison Terms
Among the 7 people sent to prison, the median prison term was 18 months. A quarter received 19.5 months or more, and a quarter received 12 months or less.
The national median for this offense type was 17.6 months, which is about the same. The median for all offenses in the district was 51 months, which is much longer.
These are the terms imposed, not time served.
Pleas and the Guideline Range
All 13 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 85% had a written plea agreement and 15% were straight pleas with no agreement.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 13 people with that information recorded.
In 8 cases (62%), the sentence was within the guideline range. One (8%) was below the range at the government's request, and 4 (31%) were below the range without a government request. None was above the range. Across all districts, 47% of sentences in this offense type were within the range, and the district's figure for all offenses was also 47%.
Supervised Release, Restitution, and Criminal History
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 6 people (46%), with a median term of 18 months. No fines were ordered, and restitution was ordered for 4 people (31%).
By criminal history, 31% were in the lowest category, category I, and 8% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Counts by Year
These cases were less than 1% of the 3,085 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. From fiscal year 2016 to 2019 there were 11 people, and from 2020 to 2025 there were 2.
The table lists 5 fiscal years, with between 1 and 5 people in each. In 2 of those years, no median is shown. With counts this small, no year-to-year pattern can be drawn.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 4 | 18 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2018 | 2 | 30 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2019 | 5 | 12 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2020 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2022 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
Limits of the Data
The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced, so acquittals and dismissals are not included. The records also cannot show why some people received probation and others received prison. The post reports federal numbers on their own.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of Indiana (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Indiana North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Forgery/Counter/Copyright" (13). 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 Northern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Robbery Sentences in the Northern District of Indiana, 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.