Federal Money Laundering Sentences in the Southern District of Florida, FY2016–2025
In the Southern District of Florida, 658 people were sentenced for money laundering in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and the median prison term was 36 months. In all 94 federal districts, the median was 40 months. Sentences within the guideline range were 33% here and 25% nationally.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Southern District of Florida, FY201 › Money Laundering: Southern District of Florida
In brief: In the Southern District of Florida, 658 people were sentenced for money laundering in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and the median prison term was 36 months. In all 94 federal districts, the median was 40 months. Sentences within the guideline range were 33% here and 25% nationally.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 658 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.
Guideline Range Results Differ From the National Figure
Of the 650 people with guideline information, 212 (33%) were sentenced within the range. Below the range at the government's request applied to 168 people (26%), and below the range without a government request to 268 people (41%). 2 people (less than 1%) were above the range.
Across all 94 districts, 25% of money laundering sentences were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the share was 55%.
Prison Terms
The U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type "Money Laundering" includes 658 people sentenced in this district. 586 (89%) received a prison term, and 25 (4%) received probation only.
The median prison term among those sent to prison was 36 months (3 years). A quarter received 60 months or more, and a quarter received 15.8 months or less. These are terms imposed, not time served.
Nationally, 88% were sent to prison. The district's median of 36 months was lower than the national median of 40 months.
Pleas and Trials
A total of 621 people (94%) pleaded guilty, and 37 were convicted after a trial. Nationally, 93% pleaded guilty.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 35 months. After a trial it was 108 months, based on 36 people. Among guilty pleas, 93% had a written plea agreement, and 7% were straight pleas.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 33 of the 655 people with that information recorded (5%).
The Main Guidelines
The most common primary guideline was §2S1.1 (Laundering of Monetary Instruments), with 518 people. The second was §2S1.3 (Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirements), with 132 people.
Money laundering cases were 4% of the 17,081 people sentenced in the district. For all offenses here, the median prison term was 32 months and guilty pleas were 95%.
Fines, Restitution, and Supervised Release
A fine was ordered for 58 people (9%), and restitution for 279 (42%). Supervised release was ordered for 577 people (88%), with a median term of 36 months. 1 person (less than 1%) received supervised release for life.
In criminal history, 85% were in the lowest category, category I, and less than 1% were in the highest, VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Counts by Fiscal Year
A fiscal year starts on October 1 and ends the following September. The yearly count ranged from 50 people in fiscal year 2020 to 94 people in fiscal year 2025. The yearly median prison term ranged from 30 months to 48 months.
Guilty pleas were 90% in fiscal years 2022 and 2023 and 98% in fiscal years 2020 and 2021.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 53 | 36 months | 94% |
| 2017 | 59 | 37 months | 97% |
| 2018 | 82 | 48 months | 96% |
| 2019 | 79 | 30 months | 96% |
| 2020 | 50 | 37 months | 98% |
| 2021 | 56 | 36 months | 98% |
| 2022 | 61 | 37 months | 90% |
| 2023 | 70 | 30 months | 90% |
| 2024 | 54 | 39.5 months | 91% |
| 2025 | 94 | 33.5 months | 94% |
What Is Not in the Data
The records do not show how much money was involved or what offense produced it. Only people convicted and sentenced are counted. Courts-martial are tried in military courts and are not part of this federal data.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Florida (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Florida South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Money Laundering" (658). 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 Florida, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of Florida, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Florida, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of Florida, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern 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.