> ## 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 Middle District of Alabama, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-middle-district-of-alabama/
- Published: 2026-11-04T11:13:53.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T11:13:53.000Z
- Description: 271 people were sentenced for fraud, theft, or embezzlement in the Middle District of Alabama in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 201 (74%) received a prison term, and 62 (23%) received probation only. The median prison term was 25 months, compared with 20 months for all 94 districts.
- 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 Middle District of Alabama, FY2016–](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-middle-district-of-alabama/) › Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement: Middle District of Alabama

**In brief:** 271 people were sentenced for fraud, theft, or embezzlement in the Middle District of Alabama in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. 201 (74%) received a prison term, and 62 (23%) received probation only. The median prison term was 25 months, compared with 20 months for all 94 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 271 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 and Probation

201 of the 271 people (74%) went to prison. 62 people (23%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.

The median prison term was 25 months, or 2.1 years. A quarter received 44 months or more, and a quarter received 12 months or less.

For all districts, 73% of people in this offense type went to prison, which is about the same as here. The all-district median was 20 months.

## Restitution Was Common

Restitution was ordered for 218 people (80%), and a fine for 35 people (13%). 202 people (75%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months.

The sheet does not show the dollar amounts or the victims.

## Within-Range Sentences

136 sentences (50%) were within the guideline range. 69 (25%) were below the range without a government request, and 61 (23%) were below it at the government's request. 5 sentences (2%) were above the range.

The all-district figure for within-range sentences was 45%. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 43 of the 271 people (16%).

## Pleas and Trials

263 people (97%) pleaded guilty, and 8 were convicted after a trial. The median was 24.4 months after a guilty plea and 42.5 months after a trial, which rests on 8 people.

Among the guilty pleas, 92% had a written plea agreement and 8% were straight pleas. The all-district guilty plea rate was 96%.

## Share of the District and Guideline

Fraud, theft, and embezzlement made up 13% of the 2,037 people sentenced in the district. Most of them, 266, had the same primary guideline, §2B1.1 (Larceny, Embezzlement, and Other Forms of Theft).

The offense type is the Commission's own category. In criminal history, 67% were in the lowest category, category I, and 7% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

## Fewer Cases Since 2020

Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 149 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 122 people. The fiscal year begins on October 1.

Yearly counts in the table range from 9 to 44 people, and yearly medians range from 16.5 months to 37 months. The records do not show why counts or medians changed, so the table is not evidence of a trend.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 38               | 32 months     | 97%            |
| 2017        | 30               | 24.5 months   | 100%           |
| 2018        | 44               | 16.5 months   | 95%            |
| 2019        | 37               | 25.5 months   | 97%            |
| 2020        | 15               | 16.5 months   | 93%            |
| 2021        | 9                | 17.4 months   | 9 of 9         |
| 2022        | 18               | 23 months     | 89%            |
| 2023        | 18               | 37 months     | 100%           |
| 2024        | 35               | 36 months     | 97%            |
| 2025        | 27               | 36.5 months   | 100%           |

## Maxwell AFB and What Is Missing

Maxwell AFB, Alabama, is in this district and appears in this site's court-martial data. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal court.

Acquittals and dismissals are not counted in the Commission data, and prison terms are those imposed, not time served. The median for all offenses in this district was 46 months.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Middle District of Alabama (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Alabama Mid") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement" (271). 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 Middle District of Alabama, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-middle-district-of-alabama/) (overview)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Middle District of Alabama, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-middle-district-of-alabama/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Middle District of Alabama, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-middle-district-of-alabama/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Middle District of Alabama, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-middle-district-of-alabama/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Robbery Sentences in the Middle District of Alabama, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-robbery-sentences-middle-district-of-alabama/) (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.