Federal Money Laundering Sentences in the Middle District of Georgia, FY2016–2025
None of the 10 people sentenced for money laundering in the Middle District of Georgia in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a sentence within the guideline range. 7 (70%) were below the range at the government's request, and 3 (30%) were below it without a government request. 7 of the 10 (70%) rece
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Middle District of Georgia, FY2016– › Money Laundering: Middle District of Georgia
In brief: None of the 10 people sentenced for money laundering in the Middle District of Georgia in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a sentence within the guideline range. 7 (70%) were below the range at the government's request, and 3 (30%) were below it without a government request. 7 of the 10 (70%) received a prison term, with a median of 18 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 10 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.
No Sentence Within the Guideline Range
The Commission recorded the guideline range for all 10 people. None (0%) were sentenced inside it and none were above it. 7 (70%) were sentenced below it on the government's motion or request, and 3 (30%) were sentenced below it with no such request.
Across the country, 25% of money laundering sentences were within the range, so the within-range share was lower here. For all offenses in the district, the share was 66%. The group here is only 10 people, so the result describes a small set of cases.
Prison Terms
7 of the 10 people (70%) received a prison term, and 3 (30%) received probation only. The median prison term was 18 months. A quarter received 19.5 months or more, and a quarter received 6 months or less.
The court ordered supervised release after prison for 7 people (70%), with a median term of 36 months. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 10 people.
National Figures
Across all 94 districts, 12,171 people were sentenced in the "Money Laundering" offense type. 88% were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 40 months. Guilty pleas were 93%.
The share sent to prison here was lower than the national share, and the median term was shorter. The district's median for all offenses was 51 months.
Primary Guidelines
§2S1.1 (Laundering of Monetary Instruments) was the primary guideline for 7 people. §2S1.3 (Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirements) was the primary guideline for 2.
These cases were less than 1% of the 4,094 people sentenced in the district.
All Guilty Pleas, All With Written Agreements
10 of 10 (100%) pleaded guilty, and none were convicted after a trial. Every guilty plea (100%) came with a written plea agreement, and 0% were straight pleas. With no trials, plea and trial outcomes cannot be compared here.
Fines, Restitution, and Criminal History
A fine was ordered for 1 person (10%), and restitution for 4 (40%). In criminal history, 90% were in category I, the lowest, and 0% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Yearly Counts
The district sentenced 5 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 5 people in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. The table lists only the 6 fiscal years with cases, and the most in one year was 4 people. Medians range from 0 months to 36 months. Groups of 1 to 4 people cannot show a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1 | 21 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2017 | 4 | 12 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2021 | 1 | 18 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2022 | 1 | 36 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2024 | 2 | 0 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2025 | 1 | 18 months | 1 of 1 |
Limits of the Data
The Commission lists only people who were convicted and sentenced, so a person who was acquitted or whose case was dismissed is absent. The source of the money in each case is not given. Fort Benning, Moody AFB, and Robins AFB are in this district. Military courts try courts-martial, not this federal court.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Middle District of Georgia (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Georgia Mid") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Money Laundering" (10). 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.
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 Middle District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Middle District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Middle District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Middle District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Middle District of Georgia, 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.