> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Western District of New York, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-western-district-of-new-york/ - Published: 2026-11-04T11:00:11.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T11:00:11.000Z - Description: In the Western District of New York, 313 of the 494 people (63%) sentenced for fraud, theft, and embezzlement offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term, compared with 73% across all 94 federal districts. The median prison term was 12 months, compared with 20 months nationally. Res - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [Federal Sentences in the Western District of New York, FY201](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-western-district-of-new-york/) › Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement: Western District of New York **In brief:** In the Western District of New York, 313 of the 494 people (63%) sentenced for fraud, theft, and embezzlement offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term, compared with 73% across all 94 federal districts. The median prison term was 12 months, compared with 20 months nationally. Restitution was ordered for 404 people (82%). Updated November 4, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025 This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 494 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/). ## Prison Was Less Common and Terms Were Shorter The U.S. Sentencing Commission recorded 494 people in its "Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement" offense type in the Western District of New York. A prison term went to 313 (63%), and 134 (27%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. For all districts, 58,502 people were sentenced in this offense type, and 73% were sent to prison. Prison was therefore less common in this district. Among those sent to prison here, the median prison term was 12 months. A quarter received 31 months or more, and a quarter received 0.9 months or less. The national median was 20 months, and the median for all offenses in the district was 41 months. ## What the Offense Type Covers This is the Commission's category, assigned from the primary guideline in each case. In this district, §2B1.1 (Larceny, Embezzlement, and Other Forms of Theft) was the primary guideline in 491 of the 494 cases. The cases were 12% of the 4,205 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. ## Restitution and Other Financial Orders Restitution, an order to repay the money lost, was ordered for 404 of the 494 people (82%). A fine was ordered for 47 (10%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 289 people (59%), with a median term of 36 months. ## Pleas, Trials, and the Longer Trial Median A total of 485 people (98%) pleaded guilty, and 9 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 12 months after a guilty plea and 81 months after a trial. The trial median rests on 8 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. The records do not show how those cases differed from the guilty pleas. Among the guilty pleas, more than 99% had a written plea agreement. National guilty pleas in this offense type were 96%, and the district's rate for all offenses was 97%. ## The Guideline Range and Mandatory Minimums Of the 493 people with this information, 218 (44%) were sentenced within the guideline range. Below the range at the government's request: 170 (34%). Below the range without a government request: 96 (19%). Above the range: 9 (2%). Nationally, 45% of sentences in this offense type were within the range. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 20 people (4%). ## Criminal History and Yearly Counts On criminal history, 76% were in the lowest category, category I, and 3% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. There were 266 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 228 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. The table gives each year. The median was 12 months in most years, 28 months in 2021, and 6 months in 2022. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 86 | 12 months | 99% | | 2017 | 51 | 12 months | 98% | | 2018 | 62 | 18 months | 94% | | 2019 | 67 | 12 months | 100% | | 2020 | 36 | 12 months | 97% | | 2021 | 29 | 28 months | 100% | | 2022 | 40 | 6 months | 100% | | 2023 | 42 | 12 months | 98% | | 2024 | 38 | 9.4 months | 100% | | 2025 | 43 | 12 months | 98% | ## Limits of the Records Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. Anyone acquitted or whose case was dismissed is absent, and the prison terms are the sentences imposed. The records do not show the dollar amount of any loss or whether a case involved a public or private victim. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Western District of New York (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "New York West") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement" (494). 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article) - [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts) - [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method) - [Federal Sentences in the Western District of New York, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-western-district-of-new-york/) (overview) - [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Western District of New York, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-western-district-of-new-york/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Western District of New York, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-western-district-of-new-york/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Western District of New York, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-western-district-of-new-york/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Sexual Abuse Sentences in the Western District of New York, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-sexual-abuse-sentences-western-district-of-new-york/) (same district, other offense type) - [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source) - [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.