§2S1.1 Laundering of Monetary Instruments: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023
In fiscal year 2023, 109 of the 1,132 people sentenced under §2S1.1 were convicted after a trial, and 1,023 (90%) pleaded guilty. The median prison term was 105 months after a trial and 46 months after a guilty plea. For all prison terms under this guideline, the median was 48 months (4 years).
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In brief: In fiscal year 2023, 109 of the 1,132 people sentenced under §2S1.1 were convicted after a trial, and 1,023 (90%) pleaded guilty. The median prison term was 105 months after a trial and 46 months after a guilty plea. For all prison terms under this guideline, the median was 48 months (4 years).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 1,132 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023. 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.
How Many Cases Went to Trial in Fiscal Year 2023
Under §2S1.1, 109 people were convicted after a trial in fiscal year 2023. 1,023 of the 1,132 people (90%) pleaded guilty. In all federal cases that year, 97% of people pleaded guilty, so trials were more common under this guideline than in federal court overall.
The median prison term after a trial was 105 months, based on 109 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. After a guilty plea, the median was 46 months. Among the guilty pleas, 93% had a written plea agreement and 7% did not.
The records do not show the evidence or the offers in individual cases, so the difference between those medians has no stated cause in this data.
Overall Sentences
1,026 people (91%) were sent to prison, and 78 (7%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. 2 received a life sentence.
The median prison term was 48 months. A quarter of those sent to prison received 101 months or more, and a quarter received 24 months or less. The median for the 64,124 people sentenced in federal court under every guideline that year was 30 months. These are imposed terms, not time served.
Guideline Range and Mandatory Minimums
The guidelines recommend a sentencing range for each case. 21% of these sentences (240) were within it. 47% (532) were below the range at the government's request, and 31% (347) were below it without a government request. 1% (13) were above it.
In federal court as a whole, 42% of sentences were within the range in fiscal year 2023. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 313 of the 1,132 people under this guideline (28%).
Title and Offense Type
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 counts a person here when this was the primary guideline, meaning the one that set the offense level for the most serious count. The Commission's offense type is Money Laundering.
The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023.
After Prison, and Criminal History
975 people (86%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison. The median term was 36 months, and 2 people (less than 1%) received supervised release for life. 87 people (8%) were ordered to pay a fine, and 372 (33%) to pay restitution.
70% 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 approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so only federal numbers are given.
Years Before and After, and the Full Period
In fiscal year 2022, 1,001 people were sentenced under this guideline, with a median prison term of 48 months and 23% within the range. In fiscal year 2024, there were 1,095 people, a median of 46 months, and 21% within the range.
For fiscal years 2016 to 2025 combined, 10,282 people were sentenced. 90% were sent to prison, the median prison term was 48 months, 92% pleaded guilty, and 22% were within the range. The table shows each year. The records cannot show why trial numbers or sentences differ from year to year.
The data includes only people convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not counted.
| 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% |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2S1.1 (1,132), 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 2022 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2S1.1 Laundering of Monetary Instruments: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024 (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.