§2B5.1 Offenses Involving Counterfeit Bearer Obligations of the United States: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019
In fiscal year 2019, 229 people were sentenced in federal court under §2B5.1, "Offenses Involving Counterfeit Bearer Obligations of the United States." 0 of 229 had a mandatory minimum prison term. The median prison term was 15 months, and restitution was ordered for 144 people (63%).
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In brief: In fiscal year 2019, 229 people were sentenced in federal court under §2B5.1, "Offenses Involving Counterfeit Bearer Obligations of the United States." 0 of 229 had a mandatory minimum prison term. The median prison term was 15 months, and restitution was ordered for 144 people (63%).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 229 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019. 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.
No Mandatory Minimums, and Restitution for 63%
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 229 people (0%). In fiscal year 2018 it applied to 5 of 228 (2%), and the fiscal year 2019 figure is lower.
Restitution was ordered for 144 of the 229 people (63%), and a fine for 12 (5%). 182 people (79%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months.
Prison and Probation
Prison terms went to 186 of the 229 people (81%). Probation only, without prison or other confinement, went to 25 (11%).
For the 186, the median was 15 months. The top quarter of terms reached 25.5 months or more, and the bottom quarter reached 7.1 months or less. Courts imposed these terms, so they differ from time served.
Almost Everyone Pleaded Guilty
228 people (more than 99%) pleaded guilty, and 1 was convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 15 months. The sheet lists 0 months for the person convicted at trial. One case gives no basis for comparing trials with pleas.
Among the guilty pleas, 78% had a written plea agreement and 22% were straight pleas.
Where Sentences Fell Against the Range
All 229 people had range information. 54% (123) were within the range. 27% (62) were below it without a government request, and 15% (35) were below it at the government's request. 4% (9) were above it.
The share within the range was 59% in fiscal year 2018 and 61% in fiscal year 2020. For all guidelines in 2019, it was 51%.
Criminal History
28% were in criminal history category I, the lowest, and 20% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Counting Rules and the Years Next Door
Under the Commission's method, the primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count. The 2019 fiscal year began October 1, 2018 and closed September 30, 2019. These 229 cases belong to its Forgery/Counter/Copyright category. Acquitted and dismissed defendants are not in the data.
The 2018 group had 228 people and a median of 18 months, and the 2020 group had 160 people and a median of 18 months. Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 1,486 people were sentenced under §2B5.1, 84% went to prison, and the median was 18 months. Under all guidelines in 2019, 76,538 people were sentenced with a median of 21 months. The table gives each year.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 280 | 18 months | 97% |
| 2017 | 238 | 15 months | 99% |
| 2018 | 228 | 18 months | more than 99% |
| 2019 | 229 | 15 months | more than 99% |
| 2020 | 160 | 18 months | 99% |
| 2021 | 98 | 15 months | 99% |
| 2022 | 86 | 19.5 months | 99% |
| 2023 | 67 | 20 months | 99% |
| 2024 | 60 | 18 months | 97% |
| 2025 | 40 | 22.5 months | 98% |
What Remains Outside the Records
The records do not show the facts of any case or the reasons behind any sentence. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart, so only federal numbers are reported.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2B5.1 (229), U.S. Sentencing Commission individual data files. The primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count.
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.
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)
- §2B5.1 Offenses Involving Counterfeit Bearer Obligations of the United States: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2B5.1 Offenses Involving Counterfeit Bearer Obligations of the United States: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2B5.1 Offenses Involving Counterfeit Bearer Obligations of the United States: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020 (previous or next fiscal year)
- How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range
- Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress
- 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.