Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of New York, FY2016–2025
Of the 356 people sentenced for fraud, theft, or embezzlement in the Northern District of New York in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 110 (31%) received probation only. A prison term went to 234 (66%), with a median of 18 months, compared with 20 months in all 94 districts.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Northern District of New York, FY20 › Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement: Northern District of New York
In brief: Of the 356 people sentenced for fraud, theft, or embezzlement in the Northern District of New York in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 110 (31%) received probation only. A prison term went to 234 (66%), with a median of 18 months, compared with 20 months in all 94 districts.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 356 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.
Probation Only for 31% of the People Sentenced
The Commission's offense type "Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement" covers 356 people here, which is 9% of the 3,763 sentenced in the district. Among them, 110 (31%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
For all 94 districts, 73% were sent to prison. In this district, 66% were. The records do not show the facts that led to probation in any case.
Prison Term Lengths
Among the 234 people sent to prison, the median term was 18 months. A quarter received 44.2 months or more, and a quarter received 5 months or less.
The gap between those figures is wide. The median for all 94 districts was 20 months, and for all offenses in this district it was 24 months.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 41 | 13.7 months | 95% |
| 2017 | 33 | 12 months | 88% |
| 2018 | 31 | 36 months | 90% |
| 2019 | 24 | 22.5 months | 92% |
| 2020 | 32 | 12.2 months | 94% |
| 2021 | 28 | 6.5 months | 100% |
| 2022 | 36 | 19 months | 97% |
| 2023 | 41 | 24 months | 95% |
| 2024 | 46 | 26 months | 98% |
| 2025 | 44 | 15.8 months | 98% |
Pleas, Trials, and Agreements
A guilty plea ended 338 of the 356 cases (95%), and 18 people were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 18 months. After a trial it was 54 months, based on 15 people sent to prison.
Among the guilty pleas, 81% had a written plea agreement and 18% were straight pleas with no agreement. For all 94 districts, 96% of these cases ended in a guilty plea.
Position Against the Guideline Range
Judges calculate a range for each case under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. Of the 350 people with the information recorded, 169 (48%) were sentenced within it, compared with 45% for all 94 districts.
Below the range at the government's request were 68 (19%), and below the range without a government request were 110 (31%). Above the range were 3 (less than 1%).
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 68 of the 339 people with that information recorded (20%).
Restitution and Supervised Release
Restitution was ordered for 266 people (75%), and a fine for 45 (13%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 212 (60%), with a median term of 36 months.
In criminal history, 72% were in the lowest category, category I, and 5% were in the highest, category VI.
Guideline and Yearly Counts
The primary guideline for 331 people was §2B1.1 (Larceny, Embezzlement, and Other Forms of Theft). The district sentenced 129 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 227 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025.
Yearly counts in the table go from 24 to 46 people, and the yearly medians go from 6.5 months to 36 months. The records do not explain these differences.
Limits and Military Courts
Fort Drum, New York, is in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal district court, and the federal numbers here are reported on their own.
The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. It does not show the dollar loss 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 New York (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "New York North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement" (356). 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 New York, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Northern District of New York, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of New York, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of New York, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Child Pornography Sentences in the Northern District of New York, 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.