Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of New Jersey, FY2016–2025
1,242 people were sentenced in the District of New Jersey for fraud, theft, and embezzlement in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 71% received a prison term, with a median of 21 months, and 83% were ordered to pay restitution. Of the 1,242 people, 96% pleaded guilty.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the District of New Jersey, FY2016–2025 › Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement: District of New Jersey
In brief: 1,242 people were sentenced in the District of New Jersey for fraud, theft, and embezzlement in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 71% received a prison term, with a median of 21 months, and 83% were ordered to pay restitution. Of the 1,242 people, 96% pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 1,242 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.
Restitution Was Ordered for 83%
Restitution is money the court orders paid to victims. It was ordered for 1,031 of the 1,242 people (83%) in this offense type, and a fine was ordered for 144 (12%).
The Commission's offense type is called "Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement." It accounted for 19% of the 6,441 people sentenced in this district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
Which Guidelines Applied
Nearly all of the cases fall under one guideline. §2B1.1 (Larceny, Embezzlement, and Other Forms of Theft) was the primary guideline for 1,214 people.
18 people were sentenced under §2B1.4 (Insider Trading), and 3 under §2X3.1 (Accessory After the Fact). The offense type groups many kinds of conduct under these guidelines, and the records do not break out the specific charges.
Prison, Probation, and the Prison Term
887 people (71%) received a prison term, and 227 (18%) received probation only. The median prison term among those sent to prison was 21 months. A quarter received 39 months or more, and a quarter received 6 months or less.
For all 94 districts, 73% of people in this offense type were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 20 months. The median in this district was about the same as the national figure.
For all offenses in this district, the median prison term was 37 months, which is higher than the median for this offense type.
Pleas and Trials
1,192 people (96%) pleaded guilty, and 50 were convicted after a trial. 98% of the guilty pleas had a written plea agreement, and 2% were straight pleas.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 20 months. After a trial it was 57 months, based on 49 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. These are medians for different groups of cases, and the records do not show the reason for the gap.
Position Against the Guideline Range
For 1,237 people, the position against the guideline range is recorded. 34% (418) were within the range, and 43% (536) were below it at the government's request. 22% (277) were below the range without a government request, and less than 1% (6) were above it.
Across all 94 districts, 45% of sentences in this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in this district, 37% were.
Mandatory Minimums, Supervised Release, and Criminal History
A mandatory minimum applied to 81 of the 1,239 people with that information recorded (7%). 867 people (70%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 36 months.
79% were in criminal history category I, the lowest, and 3% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Counts and Medians by Year
483 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019, and 759 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. The fiscal year runs from October 1 through the end of September.
The table shows the yearly counts and medians. The medians vary from year to year, and the records cannot show why.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 164 | 23 months | 90% |
| 2017 | 133 | 24.5 months | 98% |
| 2018 | 86 | 22.4 months | 92% |
| 2019 | 100 | 21 months | 95% |
| 2020 | 98 | 24 months | 98% |
| 2021 | 127 | 18.1 months | 100% |
| 2022 | 139 | 22 months | 100% |
| 2023 | 119 | 24 months | 88% |
| 2024 | 144 | 12 months | more than 99% |
| 2025 | 132 | 24 months | 98% |
What the Records Cannot Show
The data covers only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not included, and prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst is in this district, but courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal court. This post reports federal numbers on their own.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of New Jersey (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "New Jersey") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement" (1,242). 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 (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- Federal Sentences in the District of New Jersey, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of New Jersey, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of New Jersey, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of New Jersey, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Robbery Sentences in the District of New Jersey, 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.