Federal Money Laundering Sentences in the Southern District of Alabama, FY2016–2025
Of the 36 people sentenced for money laundering in the Southern District of Alabama in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 10 (28%) were within the guideline range, and 17 (47%) were below it at the government's request. In all 94 federal districts, 25% were within the range. The median prison term was 36.8
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Southern District of Alabama, FY201 › Money Laundering: Southern District of Alabama
In brief: Of the 36 people sentenced for money laundering in the Southern District of Alabama in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 10 (28%) were within the guideline range, and 17 (47%) were below it at the government's request. In all 94 federal districts, 25% were within the range. The median prison term was 36.8 months (3.1 years).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 36 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 Often Below the Range
Guideline information was recorded for all 36 people. 10 (28%) received a sentence within the range. 17 (47%) received one below it at the government's request, and 9 (25%) received one below it without such a request. 0 were above the range.
Nationally, 25% of money laundering sentences were within the range, so this district's share was about the same, and a little higher. For all offenses in this district, 56% were within the range. The records do not give the reason for any request.
Prison Terms
The Commission counted 36 people here under the Money Laundering offense type. 33 (92%) were sent to prison, and 3 (8%) received probation only.
The median prison term for those sent to prison was 36.8 months (3.1 years). A quarter got 64 months or more, and a quarter got 6 months or less. The spread is large.
All districts together sentenced 12,171 people for money laundering, sent 88% to prison, and had a median of 40 months. The median for all offenses in this district was 41 months.
Mandatory Minimums and Trials
A mandatory minimum applied to 10 of the 36 people with that information recorded (28%).
34 people (94%) pleaded guilty, and 2 were convicted after a trial. Guilty pleas carried a median prison term of 33 months. Trials carried 246 months, based on 2 people, which is too few to compare.
Nationally, 93% pleaded guilty for this offense type. In this district across all offenses, 97% did. 88% of guilty pleas had a written agreement, and 12% did not.
Guidelines
The primary guideline places each case in a category. §2S1.1 (Laundering of Monetary Instruments) was the primary guideline for 33 people, and §2S1.3 (Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirements) for 3.
Money laundering was 1% of the 2,994 people sentenced in this district during the period.
After Prison, and Criminal History
32 people (89%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median of 36 months. Fines went to 2 (6%) and restitution to 6 (17%).
64% fell in criminal history category I, the lowest, and 3% in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Yearly Pattern
The table covers 10 fiscal years. 15 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019, and 21 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. The largest single year was 9 people, in 2023.
Medians run from 0.7 months to 99.4 months, each resting on 1 to 9 people, so they do not form a trend. The 2019 row says n/a because no median is reported. Fiscal years start October 1.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 5 | 64 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2017 | 5 | 72 months | 4 of 5 |
| 2018 | 4 | 16.5 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2019 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2020 | 2 | 12 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2021 | 1 | 0.7 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2022 | 2 | 99.4 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2023 | 9 | 37 months | 8 of 9 |
| 2024 | 6 | 6 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2025 | 1 | 6 months | 1 of 1 |
Limits
Acquittals and dismissals are outside the Commission data. The records do not give the amounts laundered.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Alabama (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Alabama South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Money Laundering" (36). 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 Southern District of Alabama, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of Alabama, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of Alabama, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of Alabama, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Southern 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.