Federal Money Laundering Sentences in the District of Rhode Island, FY2016–2025
The District of Rhode Island sentenced 22 people for money laundering in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 15 of them (68%) went to prison for a median of 36 months, while the median across all 94 federal districts was 40 months. 19 pleaded guilty (86%), a lower share than the 98% for all offenses in this
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the District of Rhode Island, FY2016–20 › Money Laundering: District of Rhode Island
In brief: The District of Rhode Island sentenced 22 people for money laundering in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 15 of them (68%) went to prison for a median of 36 months, while the median across all 94 federal districts was 40 months. 19 pleaded guilty (86%), a lower share than the 98% for all offenses in this district.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 22 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.
How Often Cases Went to Trial
In this offense type, 3 of the 22 people were convicted after a trial, and 19 (86%) pleaded guilty. For all offenses in the District of Rhode Island, 98% pleaded guilty. For money laundering across all districts, the share was 93%.
After a guilty plea the median prison term was 37 months. After a trial it was 36 months, drawn from 3 people. Each of the guilty pleas (100%) came with a written plea agreement.
Who Went to Prison
15 of the 22 people (68%) were sentenced to prison, and 4 (18%) to probation only. The median term was 36 months, or 3 years. A quarter of those sent to prison got 44 months or more, and a quarter got 15 months or less.
Nationally, 88% of the 12,171 people in this offense type were sent to prison. The median for every kind of offense in the district was 33 months. The terms are those imposed by the court, and the data has no information on time served.
Where Sentences Fell Against the Guidelines
The federal guidelines produce a range for each case. In 10 of the 22 cases (45%), the sentence was under that range and the government had not requested it. In 7 (32%), it was under the range at the government's request. In 5 (23%), it was inside the range. None was over it.
Across all districts, 25% of money laundering sentences were inside the range, and in all of this district's cases the figure was 22%. A mandatory minimum applied to 3 of the 22 people (14%).
After Prison: Supervision, Restitution, and Fines
Supervised release was ordered for 15 people (68%) with a median term of 36 months. Restitution went to 12 people (55%), and fines to 2 (9%).
For criminal history, 86% were in the lowest category I, and none (0%) were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Guidelines and Counts by Year
Money laundering made up 2% of the 1,015 people the district sentenced. For 21 of them the primary guideline was §2S1.1 (Laundering of Monetary Instruments). For 1 it was §2S1.3 (Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirements).
The district sentenced 7 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 15 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. Each listed year had between 1 and 5 people. The medians in the table, from 78 months in fiscal year 2016 to 18 months in fiscal year 2025, come from groups too small to show a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1 | 78 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2017 | 3 | 36 months | 1 of 3 |
| 2018 | 3 | 37 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2021 | 2 | 48 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2022 | 5 | 27 months | 4 of 5 |
| 2023 | 3 | 18.5 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2024 | 3 | 18 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2025 | 2 | 18 months | 2 of 2 |
Limits of the Data
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. The records do not give the amounts laundered or the facts of any case. A federal fiscal year starts October 1 and ends at the close of September.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of Rhode Island (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Rhode Island") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Money Laundering" (22). 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 Rhode Island, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of Rhode Island, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of Rhode Island, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of Rhode Island, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of Rhode Island, 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.