§2S1.1 Laundering of Monetary Instruments: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025
In fiscal year 2025, 101 of the 1,170 people sentenced under §2S1.1 (9%) received probation only, and 1,053 (90%) received a prison term. Restitution was ordered for 461 people (39%). The median prison term was 46 months (3.8 years).
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In brief: In fiscal year 2025, 101 of the 1,170 people sentenced under §2S1.1 (9%) received probation only, and 1,053 (90%) received a prison term. Restitution was ordered for 461 people (39%). The median prison term was 46 months (3.8 years).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 1,170 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025. 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.
Probation, Prison, and Restitution in Fiscal Year 2025
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 1,170 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025 with §2S1.1 as the primary guideline. 1,053 (90%) were sent to prison. 101 (9%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. 3 people received a life sentence.
Restitution, which is money ordered to compensate victims, was part of the sentence for 461 people (39%). A fine was ordered for 86 (7%). 1,008 people (86%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months, and 2 people (less than 1%) received supervised release for life.
Length of Prison Terms
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 46 months. A quarter received 100 months or more, and a quarter received 21 months or less. These figures are terms imposed and not time served.
In fiscal year 2025, the median prison term for all 66,662 people sentenced in federal court was 24 months. That group covers every offense type and guideline, so it gives background only.
Within the Range, Below It, or Above It
All 1,170 people had guideline range information. 25% (287) were sentenced within the range. 44% (519) were below it at the government's request, and 30% (347) were below it without such a request. 1% (17) were above it.
In federal court as a whole, 51% of sentences were within the range that year. A within-range sentence was less common under this guideline. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 288 of the 1,167 people with that information recorded (25%).
Guilty Pleas and Trials
1,075 people (92%) pleaded guilty, and 95 were convicted after a trial. For all federal cases, the guilty plea rate was 98%. Among the guilty pleas, 92% had a written plea agreement and 8% were straight pleas.
The median prison term was 42 months after a guilty plea and 108 months after a trial. The trial figure is based on 93 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. The records do not show the evidence or offers in these cases, so the gap is left unexplained.
The Guideline, the Offense Type, and Criminal History
The Guidelines Manual titles §2S1.1 "Laundering of Monetary Instruments; Engaging in Monetary Transactions in Property Derived from Unlawful Activity." The Commission's offense type for the cases is Money Laundering. Fiscal year 2025 ran from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025.
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, and the crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline. Only federal numbers are reported.
The Most Recent Year in the Data
Fiscal year 2025 is the last year in the data. In fiscal year 2024, 1,095 people were sentenced under §2S1.1, with a median prison term 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 lists each year. Only people convicted and sentenced are counted, so acquittals and dismissals do not appear, and one year is not 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% |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2S1.1 (1,170), 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 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.