Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025
In the Southern District of Texas, 1,604 people were sentenced for fraud, theft, or embezzlement in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of those, 83% received a prison term and 14% received probation only. The median prison term was 15 months, compared with 20 months across all districts.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016– › Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement: Southern District of Texas
In brief: In the Southern District of Texas, 1,604 people were sentenced for fraud, theft, or embezzlement in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of those, 83% received a prison term and 14% received probation only. The median prison term was 15 months, compared with 20 months across all districts.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 1,604 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 Was More Common Than in Most District Cases
Of the 1,604 people, 1,334 (83%) received a prison term, and 231 (14%) received probation only. Across all 94 districts, 73% of people in this offense type were sent to prison.
In the Southern District of Texas, the share sent to prison was higher than the national share. Probation-only sentences were a smaller part of this group than prison terms.
Median Prison Terms
The median prison term was 15 months. A quarter received 37 months or more, and a quarter received 4 months or less. Nationally, the median for this offense type was 20 months. For all offenses in this district, it was 13 months.
The yearly medians in the table range from 6 months in fiscal years 2020 and 2024 to 36.5 months in fiscal year 2016. The records do not show what caused the changes, and yearly groups have between 125 and 219 people.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 125 | 36.5 months | 94% |
| 2017 | 141 | 24 months | 91% |
| 2018 | 135 | 30 months | 92% |
| 2019 | 153 | 24 months | 92% |
| 2020 | 143 | 6 months | 92% |
| 2021 | 165 | 12 months | 97% |
| 2022 | 215 | 9 months | 97% |
| 2023 | 142 | 12 months | 99% |
| 2024 | 219 | 6 months | 100% |
| 2025 | 166 | 10.8 months | 98% |
Plea and Trial Results
A total of 1,535 people (96%) pleaded guilty, and 69 were convicted after a trial. Nationally, 96% pleaded guilty too. Among the guilty pleas in this district, 72% had a written plea agreement and 27% were straight pleas.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 13 months. After a trial, it was 76.5 months, based on 66 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. The plea and trial groups are not matched, so the numbers cannot show what a trial changes.
The Guideline Behind Most Cases
The offense type is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's category. The most common primary guideline was §2B1.1 (Larceny, Embezzlement, and Other Forms of Theft), with 1,365 people.
These cases were 2% of the 71,026 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
Restitution and Other Penalties
Restitution was ordered for 968 people (60%), a higher rate than a fine, which was ordered for 70 (4%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 1,010 (63%), with a median term of 36 months.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 108 of the 1,474 people with that information recorded (7%). In criminal history, 81% were in the lowest category and 2% were in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Sentences Against the Guideline Range
The guideline range is the sentencing range calculated under the Commission's guidelines. Of 1,603 people with this information, 59% (951) were sentenced within the range. Below the range at the government's request were 20% (327), and below it without a request were 17% (272). Above the range were 3% (53).
Across all districts, 45% of sentences in this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the figure was 58%.
Period Counts and Limits
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 554 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 1,050. Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. Acquittals, dismissals, and uncharged cases are not in the data, and prison terms are those imposed, not time served.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Texas (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Texas South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement" (1,604). 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 Texas, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Money Laundering Sentences in the Southern District of Texas, 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.