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# §2S1.1 Laundering of Monetary Instruments: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2s1-1-laundering-of-monetary-instruments-fy2016/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:23:46.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:23:46.000Z
- Description: In fiscal year 2016, 49% of the 1,084 people sentenced under §2S1.1 received a sentence below the guideline range at the government's request, and 24% were sentenced within the range. The median prison term was 48 months (4 years), and 92% pleaded guilty.
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2S1.1 Laundering of Monetary Instruments](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2s1-1-laundering-of-monetary-instruments/) › §2S1.1: FY2016

**In brief:** In fiscal year 2016, 49% of the 1,084 people sentenced under §2S1.1 received a sentence below the guideline range at the government's request, and 24% were sentenced within the range. The median prison term was 48 months (4 years), and 92% pleaded guilty.

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 1,084 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016\. 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/).

## Why the Government's Requests Matter in Laundering Sentences

Guideline §2S1.1 is titled "Laundering of Monetary Instruments; Engaging in Monetary Transactions in Property Derived from Unlawful Activity" in the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual. In fiscal year 2016, it was the primary guideline for 1,084 people sentenced in federal court. The primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count.

1,083 of those people had the guideline range information recorded. 49% (532) were sentenced below the range at the government's request. 25% (275) were sentenced below the range without such a request. 24% (265) were sentenced within the range, and 1% (11) were sentenced above it.

For all federal cases in fiscal year 2016, under every guideline, 49% of sentences were within the range. Money laundering cases under this guideline were within the range less often than the federal total.

## Prison, Probation, and Life Sentences

992 of the 1,084 people (92%) received a prison term. 62 (6%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. 5 received a life sentence.

The median prison term was 48 months. A quarter received 97 months or more, and a quarter received 24 months or less. Federal prison terms in these records are the terms imposed, not the time actually served.

The median prison term for all 67,742 people sentenced in federal court that year was 24 months. The all-guidelines group covers every type of offense, so the comparison describes the size of sentences and does not explain them.

## Guilty Pleas and Trials

1,000 people (92%) pleaded guilty, and 84 were convicted after a trial. In federal court overall that year, 97% pleaded guilty. Among the guilty pleas under this guideline, 93% had a written plea agreement and 7% were straight pleas.

After a guilty plea, the median prison term was 47 months. After a trial, it was 108 months, based on 82 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. The records do not show what evidence or plea offers existed in these cases, so they cannot account for the difference.

## Mandatory Minimums, Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution

A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 275 of the 1,083 people with that information recorded (25%).

964 people (89%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, and the median term was 36 months. A fine was ordered for 114 (11%). Restitution, which is money paid to compensate a victim, was ordered for 243 (22%).

## Criminal History and the Court-Martial Crosswalk

70% of the people sentenced under this guideline in fiscal year 2016 were in the lowest criminal history category I. 4% were in the highest category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so that measure has no military comparison.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type for these cases is Money Laundering. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so this post reports the federal numbers on their own.

## Fiscal Year 2016 in Context

Fiscal year 2016 ran from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016\. For fiscal years 2016 to 2025 combined, 10,282 people were sentenced under §2S1.1\. 90% were sent to prison, the median prison term was 48 months, 92% pleaded guilty, and 22% were sentenced within the range.

In the next year, 2017, there were 1,086 people, the median prison term was 50 months, and 25% were within the range. The yearly table below lists every year. Because 2016 is the first year in the data, the records here give no earlier year to compare it with.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 1,084            | 48 months     | 92%            |
| 2017        | 1,086            | 50 months     | 92%            |
| 2018        | 1,138            | 48 months     | 93%            |
| 2019        | 990              | 50 months     | 91%            |
| 2020        | 755              | 50 months     | 94%            |
| 2021        | 831              | 50 months     | 95%            |
| 2022        | 1,001            | 48 months     | 92%            |
| 2023        | 1,132            | 48 months     | 90%            |
| 2024        | 1,095            | 46 months     | 90%            |
| 2025        | 1,170            | 46 months     | 92%            |

## What the Records Leave Out

The U.S. Sentencing Commission data includes only people who were convicted and sentenced. People whose cases ended in an acquittal or a dismissal are not counted, and the data does not describe the facts of any case.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2S1.1 (1,084), 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.

**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)
- [§2S1.1 Laundering of Monetary Instruments: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2s1-1-laundering-of-monetary-instruments/) (overview)
- [§2S1.1 Laundering of Monetary Instruments: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2s1-1-laundering-of-monetary-instruments-fy2017/) (previous or next fiscal year)
- [How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-sentences-outside-guideline-range/)
- [Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-mandatory-minimum-sentences/)
- [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.