Federal Money Laundering Sentences in the District of Arizona, FY2016–2025
In the District of Arizona, 407 people were sentenced for money laundering in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The median prison term was 22 months, compared with 40 months across all 94 federal districts. Sentences were within the guideline range for 17%, and 62% were below it at the government's request
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In brief: In the District of Arizona, 407 people were sentenced for money laundering in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The median prison term was 22 months, compared with 40 months across all 94 federal districts. Sentences were within the guideline range for 17%, and 62% were below it at the government's request.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 407 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 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.
Sentences Below the Guideline Range at the Government's Request
The range was recorded for 406 people. Of those, 17% (71) were within it. Another 62% (253) were below it at the government's request, and 19% (79) were below it without a request. Less than 1% (3) were above it.
Nationwide, the share within the range was 25%, and for all offenses in this district it was 35%. The prosecution supports a sentence below the range at its request.
Prison Terms
Of the 407 people, 311 (76%) received a prison term, and 90 (22%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. For all districts, 88% of 12,171 people were sent to prison.
The median prison term in this district was 22 months. A quarter received 65.5 months or more, and a quarter received 7.6 months or less. The gap between the 2 quartiles is large. The terms are those imposed, not time served.
Guilty Pleas and Trials
Of the 407 people, 393 (97%) pleaded guilty, and 14 were convicted after a trial. Among guilty pleas, 97% had a written plea agreement and 3% did not.
After a guilty plea, the median prison term was 20.5 months. After a trial, it was 87 months, based on 13 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. These figures describe groups of cases and do not show the effect of going to trial.
Mandatory Minimums and the Guidelines Used
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 73 of the 407 people with that information recorded (18%).
"Money Laundering" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type. The primary guideline was §2S1.1 (Laundering of Monetary Instruments) for 296 people and §2S1.3 (Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirements) for 104. One person was sentenced under §2X1.1 (Attempt, Solicitation, or Conspiracy (Not Covered by a Specific Offense Guideline)). These cases were less than 1% of the 47,716 people sentenced in the district.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History
Supervised release was ordered for 299 people (73%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 35 (9%), and restitution for 57 (14%).
In criminal history, 81% were in the lowest category I and less than 1% in the highest (VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Yearly Medians Varied Widely
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 203 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 204. The yearly median ranged from 9 months in fiscal year 2016 to 46 months in fiscal years 2018 and 2022. The yearly count ranged from 19 to 56.
With so few people in a year, one case can move the median. These records give no reason for any change. Military installations in Arizona that appear in this site's court-martial data are Davis-Monthan AFB, Fort Huachuca, Luke AFB, and Marine Corps Air Station Yuma. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, so none of these federal figures describe them.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 51 | 9 months | 100% |
| 2017 | 48 | 21 months | 98% |
| 2018 | 56 | 46 months | 95% |
| 2019 | 48 | 36.5 months | 100% |
| 2020 | 19 | 12.2 months | 100% |
| 2021 | 24 | 43.7 months | 100% |
| 2022 | 31 | 46 months | 87% |
| 2023 | 40 | 18 months | 93% |
| 2024 | 37 | 21.5 months | 92% |
| 2025 | 53 | 16 months | 100% |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of Arizona (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Arizona") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Money Laundering" (407). Offense types are the Commission's OFFGUIDE categories.
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)
- Federal Sentences in the District of Arizona, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of Arizona, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of Arizona, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Drug Possession Sentences in the District of Arizona, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of Arizona, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- 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.