Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Western District of Wisconsin, FY2016–2025
136 people were sentenced for fraud, theft, or embezzlement in the Western District of Wisconsin in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 87 (64%) received a prison term with a median of 24 months, and 45 (33%) received probation only. Restitution was ordered for 128 people (94%).
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Western District of Wisconsin, FY20 › Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement: Western District of Wisconsin
In brief: 136 people were sentenced for fraud, theft, or embezzlement in the Western District of Wisconsin in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 87 (64%) received a prison term with a median of 24 months, and 45 (33%) received probation only. Restitution was ordered for 128 people (94%).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 136 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.
Prison Compared With Probation
87 of the 136 people (64%) were sentenced to prison, and 45 (33%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. For all 94 districts, 73% of people in this offense type were sent to prison.
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 24 months (2 years). A quarter received 48 months or more, and a quarter received 12 months or less. The median for all 94 districts was 20 months, which is lower. For all offenses in this district, it was 59.5 months.
Restitution Was Almost Always Ordered
Restitution was ordered for 128 of the 136 people (94%), while a fine was ordered for 22 (16%).
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 83 people (61%), with a median term of 36 months.
What the Offense Type Covers
The U.S. Sentencing Commission assigns this offense type from the main guideline used at sentencing. In this district, the primary guideline was §2B1.1 (Larceny, Embezzlement, and Other Forms of Theft) for 134 of the 136 people.
These cases were 10% of the 1,403 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The district sentenced 74 people in this offense type in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 62 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025.
Pleas and Trials
128 of 136 people (94%) pleaded guilty, and 8 were convicted after a trial. Nationally, 96% pleaded guilty, and in the district's cases for all offenses the figure was 97%.
The median prison term was 24 months after a guilty plea and 36 months after a trial, with the trial figure based on 7 people sent to prison. All of the guilty pleas had written plea agreements.
Sentences Against the Guideline Range
Sentences below the range without a government request were given to 59 people (43%), the largest group. Sentences within the range were given to 53 (39%), below the range at the government's request to 17 (13%), and above the range to 7 (5%).
For all districts, 45% of sentences in this offense type were within the range, and for all offenses in this district the share was 32%. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 8 of the 136 people with that information recorded (6%).
Prior Record and Yearly Medians
In criminal history, 71% were in the lowest category, Category I, and 3% were in the highest, Category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Yearly counts run from 6 people in fiscal years 2023 and 2025 to 24 in fiscal year 2018. Yearly medians run from 2 months in fiscal year 2016 to 54 months in fiscal year 2020. The 54 months rests on 9 people, and the table shows no trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 13 | 2 months | 100% |
| 2017 | 19 | 27 months | 84% |
| 2018 | 24 | 27 months | 100% |
| 2019 | 18 | 24 months | 100% |
| 2020 | 9 | 54 months | 9 of 9 |
| 2021 | 14 | 21 months | 100% |
| 2022 | 11 | 24 months | 100% |
| 2023 | 6 | 30 months | 5 of 6 |
| 2024 | 16 | 24 months | 88% |
| 2025 | 6 | 38.5 months | 4 of 6 |
What Cannot Be Determined
The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Dismissals and acquittals are not included.
It does not give the amount lost in any case, so the records cannot explain differences in prison terms.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Western District of Wisconsin (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Wisconsin West") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement" (136). 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 Western District of Wisconsin, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Western District of Wisconsin, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Western District of Wisconsin, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Western District of Wisconsin, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Sexual Abuse Sentences in the Western District of Wisconsin, 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.