Federal Forgery, Counterfeiting, and Copyright Sentences in the Southern District of California, FY2016–2025
In the Southern District of California, 23 people were sentenced for forgery, counterfeiting, and copyright offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 16 (70%) received a prison term and 7 (30%) received probation only. The median prison term was 13.5 months, which is lower than the 17.6 months for all
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Southern District of California, FY › Forgery, Counterfeiting, and Copyright: Southern District of California
In brief: In the Southern District of California, 23 people were sentenced for forgery, counterfeiting, and copyright offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 16 (70%) received a prison term and 7 (30%) received probation only. The median prison term was 13.5 months, which is lower than the 17.6 months for all 94 federal districts.
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 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.
Probation Only Was Common in These Cases
7 of the 23 people (30%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. For this offense type across all districts, 77% were sent to prison, compared with 70% here.
Among the 16 sent to prison, a quarter received 24.9 months or more. Another quarter received 5.8 months or less. No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 23 people.
Which Guidelines Cover These Cases?
Forgery/Counter/Copyright is the Commission's name for the offense type. §2B5.3 (Criminal Infringement of Copyright or Trademark) was the primary guideline in 16 cases. §2B5.1 (Offenses Involving Counterfeit Bearer Obligations of the United States) was the primary guideline in 7.
All districts together sentenced 1,994 people in this type. In the Southern District of California, the type made up less than 1% of the 32,099 people sentenced in these fiscal years.
Guilty Pleas Compared With Trials
20 of the 23 people (87%) pleaded guilty. 3 were convicted after a trial. Across all districts, 98% of people in this type pleaded guilty, and across all offenses in this district the figure was 99%.
After a guilty plea, the median prison term was 18 months. After a trial, it was 0.8 months. Only 3 people make up the trial figure, so it cannot show what trials usually bring. All guilty pleas (100%) had a written plea agreement.
Position Against the Guideline Range
4 people (17%) were sentenced within the guideline range. 16 (70%) were below the range at the government's request, and 3 (13%) were below it without that request. 0% were above it.
For the same offense type nationwide, 47% of sentences were within the range. District-wide, across all offenses, the share was 15%.
Release, Fines, and Restitution
14 people (61%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. 2 (9%) were ordered to pay a fine. 12 (52%) were ordered to pay restitution.
87% of the people were in criminal history category I, the lowest, and 9% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
A Small and Uneven Yearly Table
7 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019, and 16 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. A fiscal year starts on October 1 and ends the following September.
No year in the table has more than 5 people. The medians run from 5.2 months in 2016 to 41 months in 2024, and 2018 shows n/a. Groups this small do not show a pattern.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 3 | 5.2 months | 2 of 3 |
| 2017 | 3 | 14.5 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2018 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2020 | 1 | 6 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2021 | 1 | 23 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2022 | 2 | 30.8 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2023 | 5 | 13.5 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2024 | 5 | 41 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2025 | 2 | 0.5 months | 0 of 2 |
What Is Outside These Records
The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced, so acquittals and dismissals are absent. The prison terms are the terms ordered, not time served.
Camp Pendleton, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, and San Diego lie within the district. Their courts-martial are held in military courts, apart from this federal court.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of California (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "California South") 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 (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- Federal Sentences in the Southern District of California, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Southern District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Money Laundering Sentences in the Southern District of California, 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.