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# Federal Forgery, Counterfeiting, and Copyright Sentences in the Western District of Michigan, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-forgery-counter-copyright-sentences-western-district-of-michigan/
- Published: 2026-11-04T11:15:29.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T11:15:29.000Z
- Description: All 15 people in the "Forgery/Counter/Copyright" offense type in the Western District of Michigan were sentenced under one guideline, §2B5.1 (Offenses Involving Counterfeit Bearer Obligations of the United States). All 15 received a prison term and all 15 were ordered to pay restitution. The median
- 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 Michigan, FY201](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-western-district-of-michigan/) › Forgery, Counterfeiting, and Copyright: Western District of Michigan

**In brief:** All 15 people in the "Forgery/Counter/Copyright" offense type in the Western District of Michigan were sentenced under one guideline, §2B5.1 (Offenses Involving Counterfeit Bearer Obligations of the United States). All 15 received a prison term and all 15 were ordered to pay restitution. The median prison term was 12 months, compared with 17.6 months across all 94 federal districts.

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 15 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/).

## Counterfeit Currency, Not Copyright

The Commission names this offense type "Forgery/Counter/Copyright", but in this district every case used §2B5.1 (Offenses Involving Counterfeit Bearer Obligations of the United States). No copyright or trademark guideline appears among the cases.

The sentences were recorded in fiscal years 2017 to 2023\. These cases were less than 1% of the 3,034 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025.

## Prison Terms Were Shorter Than the National Median

All 15 people (100%) were sent to prison, compared with 77% across all districts. The median prison term was 12 months. A quarter received 30 months or more, and a quarter received 7.7 months or less.

The national median for this offense type was 17.6 months, which is longer. The district's median for all offenses was 51 months. Terms here are the ones imposed. Time served is not in the records.

## Restitution and Supervised Release

Restitution was ordered for 15 people (100%), and a fine for 1 (7%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for all 15, with a median term of 36 months.

By criminal history, 27% were in the lowest category, category I, and 27% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

## Most Sentences Were Within the Range

Within the guideline range were 12 sentences (80%). 1 (7%) fell below the range without a government request, and 2 (13%) fell above it. None was below the range at the government's request.

The national within-range share for this type was 47%. The district-wide share across all offenses was 54%, so this group followed the guidelines more often than either.

## Pleas

All 15 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 73% had a written plea agreement and 27% were straight pleas with no agreement.

A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 15 people.

## Counts by Year

From fiscal year 2016 to 2019 there were 2 people, and from 2020 to 2025 there were 13\. In the yearly table, 7 of the people were sentenced in fiscal year 2020, and the other listed years have 1 or 4 people.

Yearly medians run from 1.7 months in 2017 to 51 months in 2023, but those years each have 1 person. The data include only people who were convicted and sentenced. They leave out acquittals and dismissals, and they do not show the face value of the counterfeit currency in any case, so differences in sentence length cannot be tied to the amounts.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2017        | 1                | 1.7 months    | 1 of 1         |
| 2018        | 1                | 10 months     | 1 of 1         |
| 2020        | 7                | 18 months     | 7 of 7         |
| 2021        | 1                | 12 months     | 1 of 1         |
| 2022        | 4                | 18 months     | 4 of 4         |
| 2023        | 1                | 51 months     | 1 of 1         |

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Western District of Michigan (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Michigan West") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Forgery/Counter/Copyright" (15). 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 Michigan, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-western-district-of-michigan/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Western District of Michigan, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-western-district-of-michigan/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Western District of Michigan, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-western-district-of-michigan/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Western District of Michigan, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-western-district-of-michigan/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Western District of Michigan, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-western-district-of-michigan/) (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.