Federal Money Laundering Sentences in the Southern District of West Virginia, FY2016–2025
In the Southern District of West Virginia, 25 people were sentenced for money laundering offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The median prison term was 26 months (2.2 years) for the 19 people sent to prison. Guilty pleas were 76% here, compared with 93% for all 94 districts in this offense type.
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In brief: In the Southern District of West Virginia, 25 people were sentenced for money laundering offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The median prison term was 26 months (2.2 years) for the 19 people sent to prison. Guilty pleas were 76% here, compared with 93% for all 94 districts in this offense type.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 25 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.
Pleas and Trials in Money Laundering Cases
Of the 25 people, 19 (76%) pleaded guilty and 6 were convicted after a trial. Across all 94 districts, 93% of people in this offense type pleaded guilty. For all offenses in this district, the figure is 97%. Guilty pleas were less common here than in either comparison.
The median prison term was 15 months after a guilty plea. After a trial it was 66 months, based on 6 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. The records cannot show whether the difference comes from the charges, the amounts, or other facts of each case.
Among the guilty pleas, 100% had a written plea agreement and none was a straight plea.
Prison Terms and Probation
Of the 25 people, 19 (76%) received a prison term, and 3 (12%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The median prison term was 26 months. A quarter received 91.5 months or more, and a quarter received 13.5 months or less. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
For all 94 districts, 88% were sent to prison and the median was 40 months. In this district the share sent to prison was lower and the median was lower.
The Guidelines Behind These Cases
"Money Laundering" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type. The most common primary guideline was §2S1.1 (Laundering of Monetary Instruments), for 19 people. The other was §2S1.3 (Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirements), for 6 people.
These cases were 1% of the 2,416 people sentenced in the district. The median prison term for all offenses in the district is 42 months. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 25 people with that information recorded (4%).
Sentences Against the Guideline Range
Of the 25 sentences, 8 (32%) were within the guideline range and 8 (32%) were below the range at the government's request. Another 9 (36%) were below the range without a government request. None was above the range.
For all districts in this offense type, 25% of sentences were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the figure is 51%. Within-range sentences were more common here than the all-district figure for this offense type and less common than the figure for all offenses in this district.
Supervision, Restitution, and Criminal History
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 19 people (76%), with a median term of 36 months. Restitution was ordered for 14 (56%), and a fine for 1 (4%).
In criminal history, 88% were in the lowest category, category I, and 0% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Yearly Counts and Limits of the Data
The district sentenced 8 people in this offense type in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 17 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. No year had more than 6 people, and the yearly medians range from 12 months to 135 months. Each median describes a small group and should not be read as a trend.
The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, so the records cannot show how many money laundering prosecutions ended without a conviction.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 3 | 108 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2018 | 1 | 24 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2019 | 4 | 48 months | 2 of 4 |
| 2021 | 1 | 135 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2022 | 4 | 72 months | 2 of 4 |
| 2023 | 5 | 24 months | 3 of 5 |
| 2024 | 1 | 12 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2025 | 6 | 12 months | 6 of 6 |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of West Virginia (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "W Virginia South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Money Laundering" (25). 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 West Virginia, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of West Virginia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of West Virginia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of West Virginia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Prison Offense Sentences in the Southern District of West Virginia, 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.