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# Federal Forgery, Counterfeiting, and Copyright Sentences in the Western District of Kentucky, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-forgery-counter-copyright-sentences-western-district-of-kentucky/
- Published: 2026-11-04T11:15:16.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T11:15:16.000Z
- Description: The U.S. Sentencing Commission lists 18 people sentenced in the Western District of Kentucky for forgery, counterfeiting, and copyright offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of those, 15 (83%) received a prison term, and the median was 24 months. In all 94 districts together, the median for this of
- 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 Western District of Kentucky, FY201](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-western-district-of-kentucky/) › Forgery, Counterfeiting, and Copyright: Western District of Kentucky

**In brief:** The U.S. Sentencing Commission lists 18 people sentenced in the Western District of Kentucky for forgery, counterfeiting, and copyright offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. Of those, 15 (83%) received a prison term, and the median was 24 months. In all 94 districts together, the median for this offense type was 17.6 months.

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/).

## Prison Terms for Counterfeiting-Related Cases

Among the 15 people sent to prison, the median prison term was 24 months, or 2 years. A quarter received 30 months or more, and a quarter received 14.7 months or less. Only 1 person (6%) received probation only.

In all districts, 1,994 people were sentenced for this offense type, and 77% were sent to prison. In this district, the share was 83%. For all offenses in this district, the median prison term was 57 months. These are terms imposed, not time served.

## What the Guidelines Show About the Conduct

The offense type the Commission calls "Forgery/Counter/Copyright" is mostly one kind of case in this district. The primary guideline for 16 people was §2B5.1 (Offenses Involving Counterfeit Bearer Obligations of the United States). Another 2 used §2B5.3 (Criminal Infringement of Copyright or Trademark).

The group is less than 1% of the 3,229 people sentenced in the district. The records do not describe the facts of any case.

## Criminal History in This Group

In this group, 44% were in the highest criminal history category and 17% were in the lowest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so that comparison cannot be made for military cases.

The records do not show how criminal history affected any sentence. They do show that no mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 18 people.

## Where Sentences Fell Against the Guideline Range

Within the range were 7 sentences (39%). Below the range at the government's request were 6 (33%), and below it without such a request were 5 (28%). None was above the range.

For this offense type in all districts, 47% of sentences were within the range. Across all offenses in this district, the figure was 37%.

## Pleas and Release

Of the 18 people, 17 (94%) pleaded guilty and 1 was convicted after a trial. The records give no separate median for a single trial case. Among guilty pleas, 94% had a written plea agreement and 6% were straight pleas with no agreement.

After prison, 15 people (83%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 2 people (11%) and restitution for 14 (78%).

## A Small Yearly Table

The district sentenced 13 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 5 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. Fiscal year 2016 has the most, at 6 people. Several years have 1 person, and fiscal years 2022 and 2024 are not listed.

Because each yearly median rests on 1 to 6 people, the table is not evidence of a trend. A fiscal year runs from October 1 through the end of September.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 6                | 24 months     | 6 of 6         |
| 2017        | 1                | 14.4 months   | 1 of 1         |
| 2018        | 5                | 19.5 months   | 4 of 5         |
| 2019        | 1                | 0 months      | 1 of 1         |
| 2020        | 2                | 17 months     | 2 of 2         |
| 2021        | 1                | 30 months     | 1 of 1         |
| 2023        | 1                | 30 months     | 1 of 1         |
| 2025        | 1                | 33 months     | 1 of 1         |

## What the Records Cannot Show

Fort Knox, Kentucky is in the district and appears in this site's court-martial data. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal court. The federal numbers include only people who were convicted and sentenced, so they leave out acquittals and dismissals.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Western District of Kentucky (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Kentucky West") 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 Western District of Kentucky, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-western-district-of-kentucky/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Western District of Kentucky, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-western-district-of-kentucky/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Western District of Kentucky, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-western-district-of-kentucky/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Western District of Kentucky, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-western-district-of-kentucky/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Western District of Kentucky, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-western-district-of-kentucky/) (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.