Federal Money Laundering Sentences in the Northern District of Alabama, FY2016–2025
In the Northern District of Alabama, 68 people were sentenced for money laundering offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of those, 74% received a prison term, with a median prison term of 43.8 months, and 93% pleaded guilty. Sentences below the guideline range at the government's request were the m
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Northern District of Alabama, FY201 › Money Laundering: Northern District of Alabama
In brief: In the Northern District of Alabama, 68 people were sentenced for money laundering offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of those, 74% received a prison term, with a median prison term of 43.8 months, and 93% pleaded guilty. Sentences below the guideline range at the government's request were the most common result: 53% (36 people).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 68 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 Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range
The most common position against the guideline range in these cases was below the range at the government's request. That applied to 36 of 68 people (53%). Another 15 people (22%) were sentenced below the range without a government request.
Only 16 people (24%) received a sentence within the guideline range, and 1 person (1%) received a sentence above it. Across all 94 federal districts, 25% of money laundering sentences were within the range, so the share within the range here was about the same.
For all offenses in this district, 56% of sentences were within the guideline range. Money laundering cases were therefore within the range less often than the district's cases as a whole.
Prison Terms and Probation
Of the 68 people, 50 (74%) received a prison term. Another 12 (18%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 43.8 months (3.7 years). A quarter received 120 months or more, and a quarter received 21 months or less.
For all 94 districts, 88% of people sentenced for money laundering were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 40 months. The share sent to prison in this district was lower than that national share, and the median prison term was higher.
Guilty Pleas, Trials, and Plea Agreements
Of the 68 people, 63 (93%) pleaded guilty, and 5 were convicted after a trial. The share pleading guilty was the same as the 93% across all districts for this offense type.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 42 months. After a trial it was 60 months, based on only 5 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. A group that small cannot support a general conclusion about trials.
Among guilty pleas, 98% had a written plea agreement, and 2% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Which Guidelines Applied and What Else Was Ordered
The records use the Commission's category "Money Laundering," which groups cases by the primary guideline applied. In this district, §2S1.1 (Laundering of Monetary Instruments) was the primary guideline for 66 people. §2S1.3 (Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirements) was the primary guideline for 2.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 16 of the 68 people (24%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 50 people (74%), with a median term of 36 months.
Restitution was ordered for 34 people (50%), and a fine was ordered for 4 (6%). In criminal history, 74% were in the lowest criminal history category and 7% were in the highest.
Year by Year
The table lists each fiscal year, which runs from October 1 to September 30. Yearly counts range from 3 to 10 people, so each year is small. The medians move between 12 months and 143 months from year to year, and counts this small do not show a trend.
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 account for 20 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 account for 48 people.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 4 | 143 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2017 | 6 | 48 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2018 | 3 | 29.5 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2019 | 7 | 30 months | 5 of 7 |
| 2020 | 9 | 126 months | 8 of 9 |
| 2021 | 9 | 39.5 months | 9 of 9 |
| 2022 | 9 | 45.8 months | 9 of 9 |
| 2023 | 4 | 15 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2024 | 7 | 120 months | 6 of 7 |
| 2025 | 10 | 12 months | 90% |
Place in the District and What the Records Cannot Show
Money laundering cases were 1% of the 4,557 people sentenced in this district in the period. For all offenses in the district, the median prison term was 46 months and 98% pleaded guilty.
The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it, and prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served. The records also do not show the facts of any case or the reasons for any sentence.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of Alabama (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Alabama North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Money Laundering" (68). 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 Northern District of Alabama, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of Alabama, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of Alabama, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of Alabama, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Northern District of Alabama, 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.