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# Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-eastern-district-of-virginia/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:33:25.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:33:25.000Z
- Description: 1,603 people were sentenced for the Commission's offense type "Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement" in the Eastern District of Virginia in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, which is 15% of the district's 10,381 people. 70% received a prison term, and the median was 27 months. For this offense type in all 94 federal d
- 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 Eastern District of Virginia, FY201](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-virginia/) › Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement: Eastern District of Virginia

**In brief:** 1,603 people were sentenced for the Commission's offense type "Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement" in the Eastern District of Virginia in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, which is 15% of the district's 10,381 people. 70% received a prison term, and the median was 27 months. For this offense type in all 94 federal districts, the median was 20 months. Restitution was ordered for 75%.

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 1,603 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/).

## Restitution Was Ordered in Most Cases

Restitution was ordered for 1,209 of the 1,603 people (75%). A fine was ordered for 312 (19%).

Restitution is money the court orders paid to those who lost it. This differs from a fine, which is paid to the government. The figures show how often each was ordered, not how much.

## Prison Terms and Probation

1,124 people (70%) received a prison term, and 381 (24%) received probation only. The median prison term was 27 months (2.2 years). A quarter received 51 months or more, and a quarter received 12 months or less.

In all districts, 58,502 people were sentenced for this offense type, 73% were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 20 months. The district's median is higher, and the share sent to prison is lower. For all offenses in this district, the median was 46 months.

## Which Guidelines Cover These Cases?

The offense type is a Commission category. §2B1.1 (Larceny, Embezzlement, and Other Forms of Theft) was the primary guideline for 1,240 people.

The other guidelines on the list are small. §2X3.1 (Accessory After the Fact), §2B1.5 (Theft of, Damage to, or Destruction of, Cultural Heritage Resources), and §2B1.4 (Insider Trading) each applied to 2 people.

## Pleas, Trials, and Plea Agreements

1,542 people (96%) pleaded guilty, and 61 were convicted after a trial. Across all districts, the plea rate was also 96%.

The median prison term was 27 months after a guilty plea and 58.5 months after a trial, based on 58 people sentenced to prison after trial. Among the guilty pleas, 77% had a written plea agreement, and 21% were straight pleas with no agreement.

## Sentences Against the Guideline Range

54% of sentences (861) were within the guideline range. 13% (206) were below it at the government's request, and 30% (485) were below it without a government request. 3% (44) were above it.

Across all districts, 45% of sentences for this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in this district, it was 60%. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 239 of the 1,291 people with that information recorded (19%).

## Counts by Fiscal Year

810 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019, and 793 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. A fiscal year runs from October 1 to the next September.

The yearly median in the table is between 24 months and 36 months. The records cannot show what accounts for year-to-year differences.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 247              | 30 months     | 92%            |
| 2017        | 210              | 28.5 months   | 96%            |
| 2018        | 188              | 30 months     | 98%            |
| 2019        | 165              | 27 months     | 96%            |
| 2020        | 116              | 28.5 months   | more than 99%  |
| 2021        | 149              | 28 months     | 98%            |
| 2022        | 147              | 26.5 months   | 95%            |
| 2023        | 133              | 36 months     | 98%            |
| 2024        | 110              | 24 months     | more than 99%  |
| 2025        | 138              | 24 months     | 95%            |

## Supervised Release and What the Data Cannot Show

1,076 people (67%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. Criminal history category I, the lowest, applied to 67% of the people, and category VI, the highest, applied to 4%. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

Fort Lee, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Marine Corps Base Quantico, and Norfolk are installations in Virginia that appear in this site's court-martial data. Courts-martial are held in military courts, not in this federal district court.

The federal data covers only people convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not included, and no individual case is described.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Virginia East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement" (1,603). 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 Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-virginia/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-eastern-district-of-virginia/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-other-sentences-eastern-district-of-virginia/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-eastern-district-of-virginia/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-eastern-district-of-virginia/) (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.