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# Federal Money Laundering Sentences in the District of Colorado, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-money-laundering-sentences-district-of-colorado/
- Published: 2026-11-04T11:09:39.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T11:09:39.000Z
- Description: Most money laundering sentences in the District of Colorado were below the guideline range at the government's request: 85 of 139 people (61%) in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Only 27 (19%) were sentenced within the range, compared with 25% for all 94 districts. The median prison term was 48 months, co
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [Federal Sentences in the District of Colorado, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-district-of-colorado/) › Money Laundering: District of Colorado

**In brief:** Most money laundering sentences in the District of Colorado were below the guideline range at the government's request: 85 of 139 people (61%) in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. Only 27 (19%) were sentenced within the range, compared with 25% for all 94 districts. The median prison term was 48 months, compared with 40 months for all districts.

Updated November 4, 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 139 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/).

## Sentences Below the Guideline Range

The guideline range is the sentencing range calculated under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. For all 139 people sentenced for money laundering in the District of Colorado, the records show where the sentence fell against that range.

A sentence below the range at the government's request was given to 85 people (61%). A sentence below the range without a government request was given to 26 (19%). A sentence within the range was given to 27 (19%), and 1 sentence (less than 1%) was above the range.

Across all districts, 25% of money laundering sentences were within the range. For all offenses in the District of Colorado, the figure was 36%.

## Prison, Probation, and the Median Term

Of the 139 people, 122 (88%) received a prison term, and 12 (9%) received probation only. For all districts, 88% of people sentenced for money laundering were sent to prison.

Among those sent to prison in Colorado, the median prison term was 48 months (4 years). A quarter received 73.5 months or more, and a quarter received 24 months or less. For all districts, the median was 40 months, and for all offenses in the District of Colorado it was 36 months.

These are the terms imposed, not time served.

## What "Money Laundering" Means Here

"Money Laundering" is an offense type defined by the U.S. Sentencing Commission. It was 3% of the 4,231 people sentenced in the district during these fiscal years.

The most common primary guideline was §2S1.1 (Laundering of Monetary Instruments), with 127 people. Another 12 people were sentenced under §2S1.3 (Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirements).

## Guilty Pleas and Mandatory Minimums

A total of 135 of 139 people (97%) pleaded guilty, and 4 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 48 months after a guilty plea and 45 months after a trial. The trial figure is based on 4 people, so it is too small to compare with the plea figure.

A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 39 of the 139 people (28%). Among guilty pleas, more than 99% had a written plea agreement.

## Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution

Supervised release after prison was ordered for 108 people (78%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 12 (9%). Restitution was ordered for 43 (31%).

In criminal history, 74% were in the lowest category, Category I, and 1% were in the highest, Category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

## Yearly Counts

The district sentenced 55 people for money laundering in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 84 people in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. The fiscal year runs from October 1 through the end of the following September.

The table lists each year. Counts range from 7 to 23 people, and the median prison term ranges from 18 months in 2021 to 77 months in 2017\. Counts this small do not show a trend.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 14               | 56.5 months   | 100%           |
| 2017        | 13               | 77 months     | 100%           |
| 2018        | 15               | 67 months     | 100%           |
| 2019        | 13               | 41 months     | 100%           |
| 2020        | 8                | 63 months     | 7 of 8         |
| 2021        | 9                | 18 months     | 9 of 9         |
| 2022        | 7                | 63.5 months   | 7 of 7         |
| 2023        | 23               | 35 months     | 100%           |
| 2024        | 16               | 60 months     | 94%            |
| 2025        | 21               | 36 months     | 90%            |

## What the Records Leave Out

The Commission's data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it.

These installations in the district appear in this site's court-martial data: Buckley SFB, Fort Carson, Peterson SFB, and the U.S. Air Force Academy. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal district court. The federal cases here are not tied to those installations.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of Colorado (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Colorado") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Money Laundering" (139). 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](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)
- [Federal Sentences in the District of Colorado, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-district-of-colorado/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of Colorado, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-district-of-colorado/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of Colorado, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-district-of-colorado/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of Colorado, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-district-of-colorado/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of Colorado, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-district-of-colorado/) (same district, other offense type)
- [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.