Federal Money Laundering Sentences in the Northern District of Florida, FY2016–2025
Of the 86 people sentenced for money laundering in the Northern District of Florida in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 20% (17) received a sentence within the guideline range, and 42% (36) were sentenced below it at the government's request. 82 people (95%) received a prison term, and the median was 62.5
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Northern District of Florida, FY201 › Money Laundering: Northern District of Florida
In brief: Of the 86 people sentenced for money laundering in the Northern District of Florida in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 20% (17) received a sentence within the guideline range, and 42% (36) were sentenced below it at the government's request. 82 people (95%) received a prison term, and the median was 62.5 months, compared with 40 months nationally.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 86 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.
Sentences Below the Range at the Government's Request
The U.S. Sentencing Commission had guideline information for all 86 people. 36 (42%) were sentenced below the range at the government's request, and 30 (35%) were sentenced below it without a request. 17 (20%) were within the range, and 3 (3%) were above it.
For this offense type across all 94 districts, 25% of sentences were within the range. In this district for all offenses, 44% were. The share within the range here is lower than both figures.
Prison Terms
82 of the 86 people (95%) received a prison term, and 3 (3%) received probation only. The median prison term was 62.5 months, or 5.2 years. A quarter received 108 months or more, and a quarter received 18.5 months or less.
Nationally, this offense type had 12,171 people, 88% were sent to prison, and the median was 40 months. The median in this district is higher. For all offenses in the district, the median was 48 months.
The Guideline and Mandatory Minimums
"Money Laundering" is the Commission's offense type. In this district, all 86 cases had the same primary guideline, §2S1.1 (Laundering of Monetary Instruments). These cases were 3% of the 2,768 people sentenced in the district.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 49 of the 86 people (57%).
Pleas and Trials
78 of 86 people (91%) pleaded guilty, and 8 were convicted after a trial. The national rate was 93%, and the rate for all offenses in the district was 93%.
The median prison term was 62.5 months after a guilty plea and 57.5 months after a trial, based on 6 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. Among guilty pleas, 95% had a written plea agreement and 5% were straight pleas.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
81 people (94%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 8 (9%), and restitution for 17 (20%).
57% of the people were in the lowest criminal history category, and 5% were in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Yearly Counts Are Small and Uneven
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 28 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 58. Yearly counts run from 2 to 14. The yearly median prison terms in the table range from 14 months in 2024 to 204 months in 2016.
The 2016 figure is based on 2 people. With counts this small, a single case can change a yearly median, and the table does not show a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2 | 204 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2017 | 7 | 65 months | 7 of 7 |
| 2018 | 12 | 72 months | 92% |
| 2019 | 7 | 90 months | 5 of 7 |
| 2020 | 3 | 90 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2021 | 11 | 58 months | 91% |
| 2022 | 3 | 168 months | 2 of 3 |
| 2023 | 14 | 21 months | 100% |
| 2024 | 13 | 14 months | 100% |
| 2025 | 14 | 73 months | 79% |
Military Installations and Limits
The district includes Eglin AFB, Hurlburt Field, Pensacola, and Tyndall AFB, which appear in this site's court-martial data. Those cases are tried in military courts, not in this federal court.
The federal data excludes acquittals and dismissals. It does not give the amount of money involved or the underlying crime, and prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of Florida (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Florida North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Money Laundering" (86). 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 Florida, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of Florida, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of Florida, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of Florida, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Northern District of Florida, 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.