Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of West Virginia, FY2016–2025
The Northern District of West Virginia sentenced 164 people for fraud, theft, or embezzlement in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 65% received a prison term, with a median of 21 months, compared with 20 months across all 94 federal districts. 74% were ordered to pay restitution.
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In brief: The Northern District of West Virginia sentenced 164 people for fraud, theft, or embezzlement in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 65% received a prison term, with a median of 21 months, compared with 20 months across all 94 federal districts. 74% were ordered to pay restitution.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 164 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 Was Ordered in 74% of Cases
Restitution was ordered for 122 of the 164 people (74%). A fine was ordered for 5 (3%). Restitution is money a defendant is ordered to repay to victims, and the sheet does not give amounts.
The U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type is "Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement." Almost all cases in this district were sentenced under one primary guideline, §2B1.1 (Larceny, Embezzlement, and Other Forms of Theft), which applied to 162 people.
Prison, Probation, and the Median Term
A total of 106 people (65%) received a prison term, and 52 (32%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. Across all districts, 73% were sent to prison.
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 21 months. A quarter received 35.8 months or more, and a quarter received 6 months or less. The all-districts median was 20 months, about the same as here. For all offenses in this district, the median was 37 months.
Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
Guideline Range Placement
Sentences within the guideline range were 62% (102 people). Below the range at the government's request were 12% (19), and below the range without a government request were 22% (36). Above the range were 4% (7).
Across all districts, 45% of sentences in this offense type were within the range. The figure for all offenses in this district was 57%.
Pleas and Trials
A total of 161 people (98%) pleaded guilty, and 3 were convicted after a trial. Among guilty pleas, 94% had a written plea agreement and 6% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The median prison term was 21 months after a guilty plea and 15 months after a trial. The trial figure rests on 3 people, so no general conclusion should be drawn from it. A mandatory minimum applied to 10 of the 164 people (6%).
Supervised Release and Criminal History
Supervised release was ordered for 102 people (62%), with a median term of 36 months. In the federal data, 70% were in category I, the lowest criminal history category, and 1% in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
These cases were 6% of the 2,879 people sentenced in the district. The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced.
Counts by Fiscal Year
The district sentenced 82 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 82 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. Fiscal years run from October 1 to the end of September.
Yearly counts range from 9 to 24, and the median prison term ranges from 13 months to 33 months. Groups that small can move a median a great deal, so the table does not show a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 20 | 15 months | 100% |
| 2017 | 24 | 21.4 months | 100% |
| 2018 | 22 | 21 months | 95% |
| 2019 | 16 | 30 months | 100% |
| 2020 | 9 | 13 months | 9 of 9 |
| 2021 | 12 | 20 months | 100% |
| 2022 | 14 | 31.5 months | 100% |
| 2023 | 11 | 33 months | 91% |
| 2024 | 17 | 17 months | 100% |
| 2025 | 19 | 19.5 months | 95% |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of West Virginia (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "W Virginia North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement" (164). 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 West Virginia, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of West Virginia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of West Virginia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Prison Offense Sentences in the Northern District of West Virginia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Northern District of West Virginia, 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.