Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025
1,014 people were sentenced in the Northern District of Georgia for fraud, theft, or embezzlement in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 821 (81%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 28 months. Restitution was ordered for 858 people (85%).
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Northern District of Georgia, FY201 › Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement: Northern District of Georgia
In brief: 1,014 people were sentenced in the Northern District of Georgia for fraud, theft, or embezzlement in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 821 (81%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 28 months. Restitution was ordered for 858 people (85%).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 1,014 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 and Other Money Orders
Restitution was ordered for 858 of the 1,014 people (85%). A fine was ordered for 63 (6%). Restitution is money paid to victims, and fines are paid to the government.
Restitution was far more common in this offense type than fines. The records do not show the amounts.
Size of the Group and Its Guidelines
Fraud, theft, and embezzlement cases were 19% of the 5,362 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The U.S. Sentencing Commission calls the offense type "Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement."
The most common primary guideline was §2B1.1, Larceny, Embezzlement, and Other Forms of Theft, with 961 people. Several small groups followed: §2B1.4, Insider Trading, with 3; §2B1.5, Theft of, Damage to, or Destruction of, Cultural Heritage Resources, with 2; and §2B6.1, Altering or Removing Motor Vehicle Identification Numbers, or Trafficking in Motor Vehicles or Parts with Altered or Obliterated Identification Numbers, with 2.
478 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019, and 536 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025.
Prison Terms Compared With All Districts
821 people (81%) received a prison term, and 91 (9%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. Across all 94 districts, 73% of people in this offense type were sent to prison, so the share sent to prison was higher here.
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 28 months (2.3 years). A quarter received 48 months or more, and a quarter received 14 months or less. The all-district median was 20 months. The median for all offenses in this district was 41 months, which is higher than the median for this offense type.
Pleas, Trials, and Mandatory Minimums
964 of the 1,014 people (95%) pleaded guilty, and 50 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 27 months. After a trial it was 52.5 months, based on 48 people convicted at trial and sent to prison.
Among the guilty pleas, 96% had a written plea agreement and 3% were straight pleas. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 191 of the 998 people with that information recorded (19%).
Sentences and the Guideline Range
1,000 people had a guideline range recorded. 32% (315) were sentenced within the range. 42% (416) were below it at the government's request, and 25% (248) were below it without a government request. 2% (21) were above it.
Across all districts, 45% of sentences in this offense type were within the range. The share within the range was lower in this district. For all offenses in this district, the figure was 32%, the same as here.
After Prison and Criminal History
807 people (80%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. 70% were in the lowest criminal history category, category I, and 4% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Yearly Counts
The table lists fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The count was highest in fiscal years 2016 and 2017, at 138 each, and lowest in fiscal year 2025, at 53. The yearly median prison term was between 24 months and 32 months.
Whether the lower recent counts reflect fewer cases or a change in how cases were classified cannot be told from these records.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 138 | 30 months | 96% |
| 2017 | 138 | 28 months | 97% |
| 2018 | 112 | 30 months | 88% |
| 2019 | 90 | 25 months | 93% |
| 2020 | 84 | 24 months | 100% |
| 2021 | 108 | 30 months | 96% |
| 2022 | 99 | 32 months | 93% |
| 2023 | 104 | 27 months | 96% |
| 2024 | 88 | 30 months | 94% |
| 2025 | 53 | 31 months | 98% |
What These Figures Cannot Show
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data. Prison terms are those imposed, not time served.
The sheet has no loss amounts, so it cannot show how the size of a fraud related to its sentence.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of Georgia (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Georgia North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement" (1,014). 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 Georgia, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Northern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Money Laundering Sentences in the Northern District of Georgia, 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.