§2S1.1 Laundering of Monetary Instruments: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018
In fiscal year 2018, 1,011 of the 1,138 people sentenced under §2S1.1 (89%) received a prison term, and 83 (7%) received probation only. The median prison term was 48 months (4 years). 93% pleaded guilty.
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In brief: In fiscal year 2018, 1,011 of the 1,138 people sentenced under §2S1.1 (89%) received a prison term, and 83 (7%) received probation only. The median prison term was 48 months (4 years). 93% pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 1,138 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2018. 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.
Who Went to Prison Under §2S1.1 in Fiscal Year 2018?
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 1,138 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2018 whose primary guideline was §2S1.1. The Guidelines Manual titles it "Laundering of Monetary Instruments; Engaging in Monetary Transactions in Property Derived from Unlawful Activity." The primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count.
1,011 people (89%) received a prison term. 83 (7%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. 2 received a life sentence.
The median prison term for those sent to prison was 48 months. A quarter received 96 months or more, and a quarter received 24 months or less. For all 69,425 people sentenced in federal court that year, the median prison term was 24 months. That total covers every offense type.
Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range
Of the 1,137 people with range information, 23% (260) were sentenced within the guideline range. 48% (551) were sentenced below it at the government's request. 28% (316) were sentenced below it with no such request, and less than 1% (10) were sentenced above it.
In federal court as a whole in fiscal year 2018, 51% of sentences were within the range. A within-range sentence was therefore less common under this guideline than in the full federal caseload.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 293 of the 1,137 people with that information recorded (26%).
Guilty Pleas, Plea Agreements, and Trials
1,057 of the 1,138 people (93%) pleaded guilty, and 81 were convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 93% included a written plea agreement and 6% were straight pleas. The federal rate for all cases was 97%.
The median prison term was 48 months after a guilty plea and 90 months after a trial. The trial figure is based on 80 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. The data does not show what evidence or plea offers each case involved, so it cannot explain the gap.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
971 people (85%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. 99 people (9%) were ordered to pay a fine. 350 (31%) were ordered to pay restitution, which compensates victims for losses.
Criminal History
70% of the people sentenced under this guideline in fiscal year 2018 were in the lowest criminal history category I, and 3% were in the highest category VI.
Court-martial records have no criminal history field. The approved crosswalk also has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so these federal numbers stand on their own. The Commission's offense type for the cases is Money Laundering.
Fiscal Year 2018 Alongside Other Years
The year ran from October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018. In fiscal year 2017, 1,086 people were sentenced under §2S1.1, with a median prison term of 50 months and 25% within the range. In fiscal year 2019, there were 990 people, a median of 50 months, and 21% within the range.
Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 10,282 people were sentenced under the guideline. 90% were sent to prison, the median prison term was 48 months, 92% pleaded guilty, and 22% were within the range. The table lists each year. The 2018 count is the largest in the table, and the records do not show whether that reflects more cases or different charging choices.
| 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% |
Limits on What the Numbers Show
The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are missing, and the records say nothing about the facts of an individual case.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2018 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2S1.1 (1,138), 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 (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- §2S1.1 Laundering of Monetary Instruments: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2S1.1 Laundering of Monetary Instruments: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2S1.1 Laundering of Monetary Instruments: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019 (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.