> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # §2S1.3 Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirements: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2s1-3-structuring-transactions-to-evade-reporting-requirements/ - Published: 2026-11-03T01:39:43.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T01:39:43.000Z - Description: In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 1,782 people were sentenced in federal court under §2S1.3, the guideline for structuring transactions and related reporting offenses. A prison term went to 1,328 (75%), and the median was 10 months. After a trial the median was 17 months. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › §2S1.3 **In brief:** In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 1,782 people were sentenced in federal court under §2S1.3, the guideline for structuring transactions and related reporting offenses. A prison term went to 1,328 (75%), and the median was 10 months. After a trial the median was 17 months. Updated November 2, 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 1,782 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 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](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/). ## What Does §2S1.3 Cover? The guideline's title in the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual is "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." In plain terms, the title lists offenses tied to reporting money transactions, filing reports, moving cash, and holding accounts. The U.S. Sentencing Commission files these cases under Money Laundering. Each person counted had §2S1.3 as the primary guideline, the one that set the offense level for the most serious count. ## Prison, Probation, and Prison Length Of the 1,782 people, 1,328 (75%) received a prison term. Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, went to 342 (19%). Among those sent to prison, the median term was 10 months. A quarter received 18 months or more, and a quarter received 4 months or less. These are terms imposed, not time served. ## Trials Led to Longer Median Terms Guilty pleas accounted for 1,752 of 1,782 people (98%), and 30 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 10 months after a guilty plea and 17 months after a trial. The trial figure is based on only 26 people, so it is a small group. Among the guilty pleas, 88% had a written plea agreement and 12% were straight pleas. ## Where Sentences Fell Against the Range The sentence position is known for 1,781 people. Within the guideline range was 41% (727). Below the range at the government's request was 27% (488), and below the range without a government request was 27% (473). Above the range was 5% (93). Sentences below the range, taken together, were more common than sentences within it. ## Mandatory Minimums, Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 person, which is less than 1%. Supervised release after prison was ordered for 1,193 people (67%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 290 people (16%), and restitution for 151 (8%). In criminal history, 90% were in category I, the lowest, and less than 1% were in category VI, the highest. ## Did the Median Prison Term Change? The count was 760 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 1,022 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. The median prison term was 12 months in the first period and 9.7 months in the second. Within the table, the yearly median was 12 months in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, and 2022\. It was lower in 2023 at 9.5 months, in 2024 at 6.7 months, and in 2025 at 8 months. The lowest yearly medians are in the last years of the table. The records cannot show whether anything specific caused the change. | 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% | ## What the Records Cannot Show The approved crosswalk lists no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so the numbers are federal only. The data cannot show the amounts of money involved, how many people were charged but not convicted, or the time actually served. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2S1.3 (1,782), from the U.S. Sentencing Commission's 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/) (same guideline chapter part) - [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.