Federal Money Laundering Sentences in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025
The U.S. Sentencing Commission recorded 85 people sentenced for money laundering in the Middle District of Pennsylvania in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 79 (93%) received a prison term, and the median was 57 months (4.8 years). Across all 94 districts, the median was 40 months. Trials were more common
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In brief: The U.S. Sentencing Commission recorded 85 people sentenced for money laundering in the Middle District of Pennsylvania in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 79 (93%) received a prison term, and the median was 57 months (4.8 years). Across all 94 districts, the median was 40 months. Trials were more common here than nationally: 12 of the 85 people were convicted after a trial.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 85 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.
More Trials Than the National Pattern
73 of the 85 people (86%) pleaded guilty, and 12 were convicted after a trial. Across all 94 districts, 93% of people in this offense type pleaded guilty. For all offenses in this district, the figure was 95%.
The median prison term was 57 months after a guilty plea and 69 months after a trial. The trial figure rests on 12 people. The records do not show how those groups of cases differed.
Among the guilty pleas, 99% had a written plea agreement and 1% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Prison Terms
79 people (93%) received a prison term, and 2 (2%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. Across all districts, 12,171 people were in this offense type, and 88% were sent to prison.
The median prison term in this district was 57 months. A quarter received 115 months or more, and a quarter received 28.5 months or less. For all offenses in this district, the median was 46 months.
The terms are those imposed, not time served.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 4 | 132 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2017 | 11 | 40.5 months | 100% |
| 2018 | 6 | 55.5 months | 4 of 6 |
| 2019 | 17 | 74 months | 88% |
| 2020 | 7 | 51 months | 7 of 7 |
| 2021 | 2 | 41 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2022 | 12 | 48 months | 92% |
| 2023 | 5 | 30.5 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2024 | 7 | 120 months | 5 of 7 |
| 2025 | 14 | 52.5 months | 64% |
Few Sentences Fell Within the Guideline Range
Sentences within the guideline range were 28% of the cases (24 people). Below the range without a government request were 40% (34 people), and below the range at the government's request were 29% (25 people). Above the range were 2% (2 people).
For money laundering across all districts, 25% were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the figure was 47%.
Mandatory Minimums, Restitution, and Supervision
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 28 of the 85 people (33%).
Restitution was ordered for 47 people (55%), and a fine for 13 (15%). Supervised release followed prison for 79 people (93%), with a median term of 36 months.
Guidelines Behind the Category
"Money Laundering" is the Commission's offense type, grouped by the primary sentencing guideline. §2S1.1 (Laundering of Monetary Instruments) was listed for 80 people. §2S1.3 (Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirements) was listed for 5.
These cases were 2% of the 4,067 people sentenced in the district. In criminal history, 72% were in the lowest category I and 11% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Yearly Figures Vary Widely
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 account for 38 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 account for 47. Yearly counts range from 2 people in 2021 to 17 in 2019.
Yearly medians range from 30.5 months in 2023 to 132 months in 2016. The years with the lowest and highest medians have 5 and 4 people. At these sizes the medians do not show a trend.
What Is Not in the Records
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are not included, and the records do not describe any case or explain why a sentence was set.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Middle District of Pennsylvania (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Penn. Mid") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Money Laundering" (85). 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 Middle District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, 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.