Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of Florida, FY2016–2025
Of 370 people sentenced for fraud/theft/embezzlement in the Northern District of Florida in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 247 (67%) received a prison term and 98 (26%) received probation only. The median prison term was 24 months. Restitution was ordered for 293 people (79%).
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Northern District of Florida, FY201 › Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement: Northern District of Florida
In brief: Of 370 people sentenced for fraud/theft/embezzlement in the Northern District of Florida in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 247 (67%) received a prison term and 98 (26%) received probation only. The median prison term was 24 months. Restitution was ordered for 293 people (79%).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 370 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.
A Quarter Received Probation Only
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 370 people in this offense type for the district. 247 (67%) were sentenced to prison, and 98 (26%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
Across all 94 districts, 73% of people in this offense type were sent to prison. The share here is lower than the national share.
These cases were 13% of the 2,768 people sentenced in the district over fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
Length of Prison Terms
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 24 months, or 2 years. A quarter received 36 months or more, and a quarter received 6.5 months or less.
For all 94 districts, the median was 20 months, so the district median is higher. The median for all offenses in the district was 48 months. Prison terms for fraud/theft/embezzlement here were shorter than the district's overall median.
Restitution, Fines, and Supervised Release
Restitution was ordered for 293 of the 370 people (79%), and a fine for 31 (8%). Restitution is money ordered paid to victims.
231 people (62%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. Probation-only cases are a separate group, as the first section shows.
Guideline and Mandatory Minimum Details
The most common primary guideline was §2B1.1 (Larceny, Embezzlement, and Other Forms of Theft), with 350 people. The Commission's "Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement" is a category that groups related guidelines.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 106 of the 352 people with that information recorded (30%). Among the 363 people with guideline information, 167 (46%) were sentenced within the range. 56 (15%) were below the range at the government's request, 129 (36%) were below it without a government request, and 11 (3%) were above it.
The national share within the range was 45%, and the district's share for all offenses was 44%. The share here is about the same as both.
Guilty Pleas and Trials
337 of 370 (91%) pleaded guilty, and 33 were convicted after a trial. The national rate was 96%, and the rate for all offenses in the district was 93%.
The median prison term was 21 months after a guilty plea and 30 months after a trial, based on 31 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. Among guilty pleas, 84% had a written plea agreement and 14% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Criminal History and Yearly Counts
68% of the people were in the lowest criminal history category, and 5% were in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 172 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 198. The yearly count was highest in 2016, with 61, and lowest in 2023, with 18. Yearly medians range from 11 months in 2023 to 33 months in 2020.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 61 | 24 months | 92% |
| 2017 | 40 | 18 months | 80% |
| 2018 | 32 | 24 months | 94% |
| 2019 | 39 | 15 months | 95% |
| 2020 | 53 | 33 months | 92% |
| 2021 | 36 | 18 months | 83% |
| 2022 | 39 | 32 months | 87% |
| 2023 | 18 | 11 months | 100% |
| 2024 | 23 | 14.9 months | 96% |
| 2025 | 29 | 25 months | 100% |
Military Installations and What the Records Cannot Show
Eglin AFB, Hurlburt Field, Pensacola, and Tyndall AFB, all in Florida, appear in this site's court-martial data and are in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal district court.
The data covers only people who were convicted and sentenced. It does not show the dollar amount involved in any case, and prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of Florida (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Florida North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement" (370). 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 Northern District of Florida, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of Florida, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of Florida, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Northern District of Florida, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Sexual Abuse Sentences in the Northern District of Florida, 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.