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# §2S1.1 Laundering of Monetary Instruments: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2s1-1-laundering-of-monetary-instruments-fy2021/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:23:49.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:23:49.000Z
- Description: In fiscal year 2021, 792 of the 831 people sentenced under §2S1.1 (95%) pleaded guilty, and 39 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 50 months (4.2 years). Only 20% of sentences were within the guideline range.
- 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: FY2021

**In brief:** In fiscal year 2021, 792 of the 831 people sentenced under §2S1.1 (95%) pleaded guilty, and 39 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 50 months (4.2 years). Only 20% of sentences were within the guideline range.

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 831 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021\. 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/).

## Guilty Pleas in Fiscal Year 2021

792 of 831 people (95%) pleaded guilty under this guideline, and 39 went to trial and were convicted. In federal court as a whole that year, 98% pleaded guilty. 93% of the guilty pleas under §2S1.1 had a written plea agreement, and 7% were straight pleas.

The median prison term after a guilty plea was 48 months. After a trial, it was 135 months, based on 39 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. A group of 39 is small. The records do not show the evidence or plea offers in those cases, so the gap between the medians is not explained by this data.

## Where Sentences Fell Against the Range

Each case has a recommended guideline range. For all 831 people, 20% (165) were sentenced within the range. 45% (373) were below it at the government's request. 35% (287) were below it without a government request, and less than 1% (6) were above it.

In all federal cases in fiscal year 2021, 43% of sentences were within the range. A within-range sentence was less common under this guideline. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 255 of the 831 people (31%).

## Prison Terms

751 people (90%) received a prison term. 60 (7%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. 3 received a life sentence.

The median prison term for those sent to prison was 50 months. A quarter received 97 months or more, and a quarter received 24 months or less. For all 57,287 people sentenced in federal court that year, the median was 29 months. That group includes every offense type.

## Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution

720 people (87%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, and the median term was 36 months. 1 person (less than 1%) received supervised release for life. A fine was ordered for 64 people (8%), and restitution for 272 (33%).

## About the Guideline and the Data

The Guidelines Manual titles §2S1.1 "Laundering of Monetary Instruments; Engaging in Monetary Transactions in Property Derived from Unlawful Activity." The U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type for the cases is Money Laundering. Fiscal year 2021 ran from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021.

71% of the people were in the lowest criminal history category I, and 4% were in the highest category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. The crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so only federal numbers appear here.

## Adjacent Years and All Years

In fiscal year 2020, 755 people were sentenced under §2S1.1, with a median prison term of 50 months and 21% within the range. In fiscal year 2022, there were 1,001 people, a median of 48 months, and 23% within the range.

From fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 10,282 people were sentenced under this 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 every year, and one year does not make a trend.

| 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 Is Not in the Records

The U.S. Sentencing Commission data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it. Prison terms are those imposed, not time served.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2S1.1 (831), 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 2020](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2s1-1-laundering-of-monetary-instruments-fy2020/) (previous or next fiscal year)
- [§2S1.1 Laundering of Monetary Instruments: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2s1-1-laundering-of-monetary-instruments-fy2022/) (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.