§2S1.3 Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirements: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021
In fiscal year 2021, 151 of the 190 people sentenced under §2S1.3 (79%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 12 months, but a quarter of those sent to prison received 2.8 months or less.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2S1.3 Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requireme › §2S1.3: FY2021
In brief: In fiscal year 2021, 151 of the 190 people sentenced under §2S1.3 (79%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 12 months, but a quarter of those sent to prison received 2.8 months or less.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 190 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 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.
Short Terms and Long Terms in the Same Group
The median prison term in fiscal year 2021 was 12 months. The lowest quarter of prison terms was 2.8 months or less, and the highest quarter was 18 months or more. Prison terms under this guideline varied a great deal.
29 people (15%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 190 people with that information recorded.
Which Cases Use §2S1.3
The Sentencing Guidelines Manual lists §2S1.3 under this title: "Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirements; Failure to Report Cash or Monetary Transactions; Failure to File Currency and Monetary Instrument Report; Knowingly Filing False Reports; Bulk Cash Smuggling; Establishing or Maintaining Prohibited Accounts." The 190 cases are in the Commission's Money Laundering offense type.
A case belongs here when §2S1.3 was the primary guideline. That is the guideline that set the offense level for the most serious count. The data covers October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021, and it includes only people who were convicted and sentenced.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
138 people (73%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, and the median term was 36 months. A fine was ordered for 23 (12%). Restitution was ordered for 19 (10%).
In criminal history, 89% were in category I and less than 1% were in category VI. The military justice system has no criminal history field in its records.
The Guideline Range
73 of the 190 people (38%) were sentenced within the range. 43 (23%) were below it at the government's request, and 59 (31%) were below it without a government request. 15 (8%) were above it.
Across all guidelines in fiscal year 2021, 43% of sentences were within the range. The §2S1.3 share was lower than that. In fiscal year 2020 the §2S1.3 share was 37%, and in fiscal year 2022 it was 44%.
Guilty Pleas and Trial Convictions
188 of the 190 people (99%) pleaded guilty. 2 were convicted after a trial. 85% of guilty pleas had a written plea agreement, and 14% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 12 months. After a trial it was 13 months, which rests on 2 people. These numbers are close, but a group of 2 does not show how trial cases generally end.
Federal Totals for Fiscal Year 2021
In fiscal year 2021, 57,287 people were sentenced across all guidelines. The median prison term was 29 months and 98% pleaded guilty. The §2S1.3 median of 12 months was lower than the all-guideline median.
From fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 1,782 people were sentenced under §2S1.3. 75% were sent to prison, the median prison term was 10 months, guilty pleas were 98%, and 41% were within the range. Fiscal year 2020 had 113 people and fiscal year 2022 had 185. The table gives each year.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 257 | 12 months | 97% |
| 2017 | 174 | 12 months | 99% |
| 2018 | 152 | 12 months | 98% |
| 2019 | 177 | 10 months | 98% |
| 2020 | 113 | 10 months | more than 99% |
| 2021 | 190 | 12 months | 99% |
| 2022 | 185 | 12 months | 98% |
| 2023 | 172 | 9.5 months | more than 99% |
| 2024 | 177 | 6.7 months | 98% |
| 2025 | 185 | 8 months | 98% |
Limits of the Comparison
The approved crosswalk lists no close court-martial counterpart for §2S1.3, so this post stays with federal figures. The data counts convictions only. It does not show the conduct behind any sentence, and the prison terms shown are those imposed, not time served.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2S1.3 (190), 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.
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)
- §2S1.3 Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirements: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2S1.3 Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirements: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2S1.3 Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirements: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022 (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.