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# Federal Money Laundering Sentences in the Northern District of Iowa, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-money-laundering-sentences-northern-district-of-iowa/
- Published: 2026-11-04T11:06:21.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T11:06:21.000Z
- Description: In the Northern District of Iowa, 34 people were sentenced for money laundering in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and the median prison term was 59 months (4.9 years). For all 94 federal districts the median was 40 months. A quarter of the Iowa group received 178.8 months or more.
- 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 Northern District of Iowa, FY2016–2](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-northern-district-of-iowa/) › Money Laundering: Northern District of Iowa

**In brief:** In the Northern District of Iowa, 34 people were sentenced for money laundering in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and the median prison term was 59 months (4.9 years). For all 94 federal districts the median was 40 months. A quarter of the Iowa group received 178.8 months or more.

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 34 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/).

## The Spread of Prison Terms

All 34 people (100%) received a prison term. The median was 59 months. A quarter received 178.8 months or more, and a quarter received 40 months or less.

Prison terms vary widely within the group. Across all districts, the Commission counts 12,171 people in this offense type. Of those, 88% went to prison, and their median was 40 months. For all offenses in the Northern District of Iowa, the median was 60 months. The figures are sentences imposed, not time served.

## Few Sentences Were Within the Guideline Range

A total of 35% (12) were sentenced within the guideline range. Another 32% (11) were below the range at the government's request, and 32% (11) were below it without a government request. None (0%) were above the range.

In all districts, 25% of money laundering sentences were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the figure was 53%.

## Mandatory Minimums, Pleas, and Trials

A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 14 of the 34 people (41%). Congress sets these minimums for certain offenses, and a judge generally cannot sentence below them.

Guilty pleas accounted for 32 of the 34 people (94%). The other 2 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 59 months after a guilty plea and 246 months after a trial. Only 2 people make up the trial figure, so it is not a pattern.

Among guilty pleas, 94% had a written plea agreement, and 6% were straight pleas with no agreement.

## One Guideline Covers the Whole Group

"Money Laundering" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type. Every person in the group, 34 of 34, had §2S1.1 (Laundering of Monetary Instruments) as the primary guideline. These cases were less than 1% of the 3,479 people sentenced in the district over the period.

The primary guideline does not show the underlying offense that produced the money, so the group may include very different cases.

## Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History

Supervised release after prison was ordered for all 34 people (100%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 1 (3%), and restitution for 11 (32%).

In criminal history, 59% were in the lowest category I and 3% were in the highest category VI. Military records have no matching criminal history field, so no court-martial comparison is made here.

## Counts by Fiscal Year

The group has 17 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 17 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. Yearly counts are from 1 to 9 people, and the table has no row for 2023\. The median was 360 months in 2021 with 3 people, and 15 months in 2022 with 3 people.

Fiscal years begin October 1\. With so few people in each year, the medians are not a trend, and the records give no reason for the differences. The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 1                | 147 months    | 1 of 1         |
| 2017        | 5                | 87 months     | 5 of 5         |
| 2018        | 2                | 130.5 months  | 2 of 2         |
| 2019        | 9                | 78 months     | 9 of 9         |
| 2020        | 1                | 44 months     | 1 of 1         |
| 2021        | 3                | 360 months    | 3 of 3         |
| 2022        | 3                | 15 months     | 3 of 3         |
| 2024        | 2                | 73.5 months   | 2 of 2         |
| 2025        | 8                | 44.5 months   | 6 of 8         |

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of Iowa (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Iowa North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Money Laundering" (34). 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 Northern District of Iowa, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-northern-district-of-iowa/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of Iowa, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-northern-district-of-iowa/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of Iowa, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-northern-district-of-iowa/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Northern District of Iowa, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-northern-district-of-iowa/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of Iowa, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-northern-district-of-iowa/) (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.