> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of Colorado, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-district-of-colorado/ - Published: 2026-11-04T11:09:36.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T11:09:36.000Z - Description: In the District of Colorado, 376 people were sentenced for fraud, theft, or embezzlement offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 68% received a prison term and 26% received probation only, while 73% of such cases across all 94 districts led to prison. The median prison term in Colorado was 22 months, - 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 District of Colorado, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-district-of-colorado/) › Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement: District of Colorado **In brief:** In the District of Colorado, 376 people were sentenced for fraud, theft, or embezzlement offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. 68% received a prison term and 26% received probation only, while 73% of such cases across all 94 districts led to prison. The median prison term in Colorado was 22 months, compared with 20 months for all 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 376 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 and Probation in Colorado Of the 376 people sentenced, 254 (68%) received a prison term. Another 99 (26%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. Across all 94 federal districts, 73% of people sentenced for this offense type were sent to prison. Among those sent to prison in Colorado, the median prison term was 22 months. A quarter received 40.5 months or more, and a quarter received 9 months or less. For all districts together, the median prison term for this offense type was 20 months. The prison terms in these figures are the terms imposed by the court. They are not time actually served. ## What the Offense Type Covers "Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement" is a category used by the U.S. Sentencing Commission. The category groups cases by the main guideline applied at sentencing. In Colorado, the most common primary guideline was §2B1.1 (Larceny, Embezzlement, and Other Forms of Theft), with 351 people. A further 4 people were sentenced under §2B1.5 (Theft of, Damage to, or Destruction of, Cultural Heritage Resources). These cases were 9% of the 4,231 people sentenced in the District of Colorado during the same fiscal years. The fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30. ## Guilty Pleas and Trials Of the 376 people, 352 (94%) pleaded guilty and 24 were convicted after a trial. Across all districts, 96% of people sentenced for this offense type pleaded guilty. In all offenses in the District of Colorado, the rate was 97%. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 19.5 months. After a trial, it was 70 months. The trial figure is based on 20 people who were convicted at trial and sent to prison, so it comes from a small group. Among the guilty pleas, more than 99% had a written plea agreement. Less than 1% were straight pleas with no agreement. ## How Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range The guideline range is the sentencing range calculated under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. Information on this was recorded for 368 people. A sentence within the range was given to 176 (48%), compared with 45% for all districts. Sentences below the range at the government's request were given to 100 people (27%). Sentences below the range without a government request were given to 84 (23%). Sentences above the range were given to 8 (2%). For all offenses in the District of Colorado, 36% of sentences were within the range. Fraud, theft, and embezzlement cases were within the range more often than the district's cases as a whole. ## Other Conditions of Sentencing A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 35 of the 375 people with that information recorded (9%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 244 people (65%), and the median term was 36 months. A fine was ordered for 36 people (10%). Restitution was ordered for 316 (84%). For criminal history, 68% were in the lowest category, Category I, and 6% were in the highest, Category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. ## Year-by-Year Counts The district sentenced 194 people for this offense type in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 182 people in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. The table shows each year. Yearly counts range from 20 to 71 people, so single-year medians rest on small numbers and should be read with care. The median prison term varied from 12 months in 2016 to 30 months in 2023\. The records do not show why the figure changed from year to year. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 51 | 12 months | 98% | | 2017 | 29 | 29 months | 93% | | 2018 | 43 | 21 months | 88% | | 2019 | 71 | 19 months | 94% | | 2020 | 43 | 16.5 months | 98% | | 2021 | 34 | 24 months | 94% | | 2022 | 31 | 18 months | 100% | | 2023 | 20 | 30 months | 85% | | 2024 | 25 | 22.6 months | 84% | | 2025 | 29 | 24 months | 93% | ## What These Numbers Cannot Show The Commission's data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it, so the numbers say nothing about how many cases were brought and did not end in a sentence. Military installations in this district that appear in this site's court-martial data are Buckley SFB, Fort Carson, Peterson SFB, and the U.S. Air Force Academy. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal district court, and the records show no link between those installations and these federal cases. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of Colorado (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Colorado") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement" (376). 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. **Mandatory minimum sentences.** Many federal statutes on drugs, images of child exploitation, child sex abuse, and firearms carry mandatory minimum prison terms. The UCMJ has mandatory minimums only for a few offenses (a dishonorable discharge or dismissal for rape and sexual assault, and life for premeditated murder). Federal sentences for these offenses are partly set by Congress, not by the judge. ## 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 District of Colorado, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-district-of-colorado/) (overview) - [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of Colorado, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-district-of-colorado/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of Colorado, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-district-of-colorado/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of Colorado, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-district-of-colorado/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Robbery Sentences in the District of Colorado, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-robbery-sentences-district-of-colorado/) (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.