Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025
In the Eastern District of North Carolina, 615 people were sentenced for fraud, theft, and embezzlement in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of those, 407 (66%) received a prison term, and the median was 24 months (2 years). Across all 94 federal districts, 73% were sent to prison and the median was 20 mon
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In brief: In the Eastern District of North Carolina, 615 people were sentenced for fraud, theft, and embezzlement in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of those, 407 (66%) received a prison term, and the median was 24 months (2 years). Across all 94 federal districts, 73% were sent to prison and the median was 20 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 615 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.
Prison, Probation, and Restitution
Prison terms went to 407 of the 615 people (66%). Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, went to 171 (28%).
Restitution was ordered for 468 people (76%), and a fine for 74 (12%). Restitution is money a court orders paid to a victim.
In this district, the share sent to prison is lower than the national 73%, and the median of 24 months is higher than the national 20 months. Both are terms imposed, not time served.
Spread of the Prison Terms
A quarter of those sent to prison received 40 months or more, and a quarter received 11.5 months or less. Supervised release followed prison for 395 people (64%), with a median term of 36 months.
The median for all offenses in this district was 60 months, which is higher than the median for this offense type.
Almost Everyone Pleaded Guilty
Of the 615 people, 606 (99%) pleaded guilty and 9 were convicted after a trial. Nationally, 96% pleaded guilty for this offense type.
The median prison term was 24 months after a guilty plea. After a trial it was 51 months, but that rests on 9 people. A written plea agreement covered 83% of guilty pleas, and 16% were straight pleas with no agreement.
How Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range
Sentences were within the guideline range for 58% of the 579 people with the information (338). The national figure for this offense type was 45%, and the figure for all offenses in this district was 56%.
Another 23% (133) were below the range at the government's request, 17% (99) were below it without one, and 2% (9) were above it.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 90 of the 541 people with that information recorded (17%).
Which Guideline and Criminal History
"Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement" is the Commission's offense type. The primary guideline listed was §2B1.1 (Larceny, Embezzlement, and Other Forms of Theft), for 504 people.
In the Commission's data, 71% were in the lowest criminal history category and 3% in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. These cases were 8% of the 7,801 people sentenced in the district, and the national group has 58,502 people.
Year-by-Year Counts
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 272 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 343. The yearly median prison term runs from 15 months to 25.5 months in the table, and the yearly counts run from 34 to 87 people.
The fiscal year begins October 1 and ends in September.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 87 | 24 months | 100% |
| 2017 | 67 | 25.5 months | 100% |
| 2018 | 64 | 24 months | 98% |
| 2019 | 54 | 16 months | 94% |
| 2020 | 34 | 15 months | 100% |
| 2021 | 68 | 24 months | 100% |
| 2022 | 65 | 20 months | 97% |
| 2023 | 53 | 22.5 months | 94% |
| 2024 | 76 | 15 months | 100% |
| 2025 | 47 | 24 months | 100% |
Installations and Limits of the Records
Camp Lejeune, Fort Bragg, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, and Seymour Johnson AFB are in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, and this post reports federal numbers on their own.
The data excludes acquittals and dismissals, because it counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. It does not describe individual cases.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of North Carolina (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "N Carolina East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement" (615). 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 Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, 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.