Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025
462 people were sentenced for fraud, theft, or embezzlement in the Southern District of Mississippi in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 338 (73%) received a prison term, with a median of 16 months, and 97 (21%) received probation only. Restitution was ordered for 311 (67%).
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In brief: 462 people were sentenced for fraud, theft, or embezzlement in the Southern District of Mississippi in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 338 (73%) received a prison term, with a median of 16 months, and 97 (21%) received probation only. Restitution was ordered for 311 (67%).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 462 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, Prison, and the Median Term
97 of the 462 people (21%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. 338 (73%) received a prison term. The share sent to prison was the same as the 73% for all 94 districts.
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 16 months. A quarter received 37 months or more, and a quarter received 5 months or less. The median for all districts was 20 months, so the median here was lower.
Restitution and Fines
Restitution is money the court orders paid to compensate for a loss. It was ordered for 311 people (67%). A fine was ordered for 126 (27%).
300 people (65%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months.
Guideline Range Positions
58% of 460 people (265) were sentenced within the guideline range. That is more than the 45% for fraud, theft, and embezzlement in all districts, and less than the 69% for every offense type in this district.
21% (97) were below the range at the government's request, and 20% (92) were below it without a government request. 1% (6) were above it.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 28 of the 460 people with that information (6%).
What the Category Includes
"Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement" is the Commission's category. The primary guideline was §2B1.1 (Larceny, Embezzlement, and Other Forms of Theft) for 382 people. §2B1.5 (Theft of, Damage to, or Destruction of, Cultural Heritage Resources) applied to 2.
These cases were 14% of the 3,361 people sentenced in the district in these years. The records here do not list the dollar amount of any loss.
Pleas and Trials
455 of the 462 people (98%) pleaded guilty, and 7 were convicted after a trial. The rate for all districts was 96%.
The median prison term was 16 months after a guilty plea and 78 months after a trial. The trial figure rests on 7 people. 98% of the guilty pleas had a written plea agreement.
On criminal history, 77% were in category I, the lowest, and 3% were in category VI, the highest.
A Look at Each Fiscal Year
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 have 173 people, and 2020 to 2025 have 289. The largest year was 2020, with 89 people and a median of 4 months. The smallest counts were 32, in 2021 and 2022.
Yearly medians go from 3.6 months in 2021 to 30 months in 2017. The fiscal year runs from October 1 to the end of September. The table does not show why any year differs from another.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 50 | 26 months | 100% |
| 2017 | 47 | 30 months | 89% |
| 2018 | 33 | 18 months | 97% |
| 2019 | 43 | 18 months | 100% |
| 2020 | 89 | 4 months | 100% |
| 2021 | 32 | 3.6 months | 100% |
| 2022 | 32 | 16 months | 100% |
| 2023 | 44 | 17 months | 98% |
| 2024 | 37 | 24 months | 100% |
| 2025 | 55 | 15 months | 100% |
Limits and the Installation Note
The Commission records only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not included, and prison terms are those imposed, not those served.
Keesler AFB, Mississippi, is in this district and appears in this site's court-martial data. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal district court.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Mississippi (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Mississippi South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement" (462). 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 Southern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Mississippi, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Robbery Sentences in the Southern District of Mississippi, 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.