> ## 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.

# Federal Money Laundering Sentences in the Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-money-laundering-sentences-eastern-district-of-texas/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:34:30.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:34:30.000Z
- Description: In the Eastern District of Texas, 297 people were sentenced for money laundering in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 270 (91%) received a prison term with a median of 60 months (5 years). For all 94 federal districts, the median was 40 months. Of the 297 people, 23 were convicted after a trial.
- 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 Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-texas/) › Money Laundering: Eastern District of Texas

**In brief:** In the Eastern District of Texas, 297 people were sentenced for money laundering in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and 270 (91%) received a prison term with a median of 60 months (5 years). For all 94 federal districts, the median was 40 months. Of the 297 people, 23 were convicted after a trial.

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 297 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/).

## Trial Cases Carried Longer Prison Terms

A total of 274 people (92%) pleaded guilty, and 23 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 60 months. After a trial it was 135.5 months, based on 22 people sent to prison.

Trial cases and plea cases can differ in many ways, which means this comparison does not show the effect of a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 98% had a written plea agreement, and 2% were straight pleas with no agreement.

Nationwide, 93% of people sentenced for money laundering pleaded guilty. For all offenses in this district, the figure was 98%.

## Overall Prison Terms

The median was 60 months. The longest quarter of terms were 121 months or more, and the shortest quarter were 30 months or less. In addition, 2 people received a life sentence.

The nationwide median of 40 months is lower than the median here. For all offenses in this district, the median was 64.5 months, which is higher than the median for money laundering.

Probation only went to 22 people (7%). Across all districts, 88% of people sentenced for money laundering went to prison. The terms are what the court imposed. They are not time served.

## What Is Counted as Money Laundering

"Money Laundering" is the Commission's offense type, assigned by the primary guideline. Most people, 271, were sentenced under §2S1.1 (Laundering of Monetary Instruments). Another 26 were sentenced under §2S1.3 (Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirements).

Money laundering made up 4% of the 7,998 people sentenced in the district over the period.

## Mandatory Minimums and the Guideline Range

A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 89 of the 297 people (30%).

The sentence was within the guideline range for 47% of the people (140). Below the range at the government's request were 29% (87), and below the range without a government request were 19% (55). Above the range were 5% (15).

For all districts, 25% of money laundering sentences were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the figure was 64%. Within-range sentences were more common in this district than nationwide for money laundering.

## Supervised Release, Fines, Restitution, and Criminal History

Supervised release after prison was ordered for 269 people (91%), with a median term of 36 months. The court ordered a fine for 15 people (5%) and restitution for 46 (15%).

For criminal history, 80% were in the lowest category and 2% in the highest. Courts-martial have no criminal history field to compare.

## Growth in Yearly Counts

From fiscal years 2016 to 2019, 84 people were sentenced. From fiscal years 2020 to 2025, 213 were sentenced. The fiscal year runs from October 1 through the end of September.

Fiscal years 2024 and 2025 had 52 and 58 people, the most in the table, with medians of 48 months and 79.5 months. Fiscal year 2019 had 9 people. The records do not explain the yearly differences.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 29               | 57 months     | 100%           |
| 2017        | 24               | 60 months     | 83%            |
| 2018        | 22               | 55.5 months   | 95%            |
| 2019        | 9                | 121 months    | 8 of 9         |
| 2020        | 19               | 70 months     | 100%           |
| 2021        | 22               | 70 months     | 95%            |
| 2022        | 24               | 70 months     | 100%           |
| 2023        | 38               | 65 months     | 100%           |
| 2024        | 52               | 48 months     | 88%            |
| 2025        | 58               | 79.5 months   | 83%            |

## Limits of the Data

People who were acquitted or whose cases were dismissed do not appear here, and the data does not describe how any individual case unfolded.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Texas East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Money Laundering" (297). 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 Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-texas/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-eastern-district-of-texas/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-eastern-district-of-texas/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-eastern-district-of-texas/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-eastern-district-of-texas/) (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.