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# Federal Money Laundering Sentences in the Northern District of Ohio, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-money-laundering-sentences-northern-district-of-ohio/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:35:17.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:35:17.000Z
- Description: In the Northern District of Ohio, 233 people were sentenced for money laundering in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 189 (81%) received a prison term, and the median was 36 months (3 years). Only 22% were sentenced within the guideline range.
- 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 Ohio, FY2016–2](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-northern-district-of-ohio/) › Money Laundering: Northern District of Ohio

**In brief:** In the Northern District of Ohio, 233 people were sentenced for money laundering in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. 189 (81%) received a prison term, and the median was 36 months (3 years). Only 22% were sentenced within the guideline range.

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 233 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/).

## Few Sentences Were Within the Guideline Range

The guideline range is the sentencing range that the Commission's manual produces for each case. Of the 233 people, 51 (22%) were sentenced within it. 107 (46%) were below the range at the government's request, and 74 (32%) were below it without a request. 1 person (less than 1%) was above it.

Across all 94 districts, 25% of money laundering sentences were within the range. For all offenses in this district it was 43%. A difference in the percentages does not show why.

## Prison Terms

Among the 189 people sent to prison, the median term was 36 months. A quarter received 78 months or more, and a quarter received 18 months or less. Another 29 people (12%) received probation only. The terms are imposed terms, not time served.

Supervised release was ordered for 189 people (81%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 36 (15%), and restitution for 84 (36%). A mandatory minimum applied to 51 of the 232 people with that information recorded (22%).

## Pleas and Trials

213 of the 233 people (91%) pleaded guilty, and 20 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 30 months after a guilty plea and 70.5 months after a trial.

Among the guilty pleas, 92% had a written plea agreement and 8% were straight pleas with no agreement. Across all districts, 93% pleaded guilty.

## Nationwide Comparison

The Commission counted 12,171 people for money laundering in all districts. 88% were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 40 months. In this district the prison rate was lower, at 81%, and the median was also lower, at 36 months.

These cases were 3% of the 7,866 people sentenced in the district. The district's median for all offenses was 46 months.

## Primary Guidelines and Criminal History

The primary guideline for 224 people was §2S1.1 (Laundering of Monetary Instruments). Another 9 were sentenced under §2S1.3 (Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirements).

In the lowest criminal history category were 63% of the group, and 5% were in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

## Counts by Fiscal Year

The district sentenced 123 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 110 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. The fiscal year runs from October 1 through the following September. The yearly medians range from 25 months to 94 months in the table. Counts range from 11 to 63 people, so the records cannot support a claim about a trend.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 28               | 25 months     | 89%            |
| 2017        | 11               | 30 months     | 73%            |
| 2018        | 63               | 27 months     | 94%            |
| 2019        | 21               | 30 months     | 95%            |
| 2020        | 35               | 88.5 months   | 94%            |
| 2021        | 12               | 46 months     | 100%           |
| 2022        | 11               | 26.5 months   | 91%            |
| 2023        | 15               | 52 months     | 80%            |
| 2024        | 13               | 94 months     | 100%           |
| 2025        | 24               | 44 months     | 88%            |

## What the Records Do Not Show

The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. It leaves out acquittals and dismissals. It does not show the amount laundered or the underlying crime.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of Ohio (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Ohio North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Money Laundering" (233). 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 Ohio, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-northern-district-of-ohio/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of Ohio, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-northern-district-of-ohio/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of Ohio, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-northern-district-of-ohio/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of Ohio, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-northern-district-of-ohio/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Northern District of Ohio, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-northern-district-of-ohio/) (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.