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# Federal Money Laundering Sentences in the Western District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-money-laundering-sentences-western-district-of-louisiana/
- Published: 2026-11-04T11:14:49.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T11:14:49.000Z
- Description: All 18 people sentenced for money laundering in the Western District of Louisiana in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 pleaded guilty. Of these, 15 (83%) received a prison term, with a median of 30 months (2.5 years). Across all 94 federal districts the median was 40 months, and 25% of sentences were within
- 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 Western District of Louisiana, FY20](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-western-district-of-louisiana/) › Money Laundering: Western District of Louisiana

**In brief:** All 18 people sentenced for money laundering in the Western District of Louisiana in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 pleaded guilty. Of these, 15 (83%) received a prison term, with a median of 30 months (2.5 years). Across all 94 federal districts the median was 40 months, and 25% of sentences were within the guideline range, compared with 61% here.

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 18 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/).

## A Wide Spread of Prison Terms

The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 18 people in this district whose offense type was Money Laundering. Of these, 15 (83%) received a prison term, and 2 (11%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.

The median prison term was 30 months (2.5 years). A quarter received 82 months or more, and a quarter received 15.6 months or less. The distance between those figures is wide, and the records do not explain it.

Across all districts, 12,171 people were sentenced for money laundering, 88% were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 40 months. For all offenses in this district, the median was 60 months.

## Sentences and the Guideline Range

Of the 18 people with guideline information, 11 (61%) were sentenced within the range. Another 3 (17%) were below it at the government's request, and 3 (17%) were below it without a government request. 1 person (6%) was above the range.

In all districts, 25% of money laundering sentences were within the range, so the share here was higher. For all offenses in this district, 67% were within the range. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 18 people with that information recorded (0%).

## Plea Agreements

All 18 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial. In all districts, 93% pleaded guilty for this offense type. For all offenses in this district, the share was 96%.

Among guilty pleas, 100% had a written plea agreement, and 0% were straight pleas with no agreement.

## Which Guidelines Applied

The offense type is the Commission's category, assigned from the primary guideline. §2S1.1 (Laundering of Monetary Instruments) was the primary guideline for 16 people. §2S1.3 (Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirements) was the primary guideline for 2.

Money laundering cases were less than 1% of the 3,011 people sentenced in this district in the period.

## Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History

Supervised release after prison was ordered for 14 people (78%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 2 (11%), and restitution for 4 (22%).

In criminal history, 78% were in the lowest category (category I), and 0% were in the highest (VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

## Year-by-Year Counts

Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 account for 4 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 account for 14\. Counts per year are 1 to 5 people, and several years have no row. The table does not show a trend.

The medians vary from 12 months to 63.5 months, but each rests on a handful of people. Fiscal years begin on October 1.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 3                | 13 months     | 3 of 3         |
| 2017        | 1                | 46 months     | 1 of 1         |
| 2020        | 1                | n/a           | 1 of 1         |
| 2021        | 1                | 12 months     | 1 of 1         |
| 2022        | 3                | 63.5 months   | 3 of 3         |
| 2023        | 5                | 18.7 months   | 5 of 5         |
| 2025        | 4                | 63.5 months   | 4 of 4         |

## Installations and What the Data Omits

Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, and Fort Polk, Louisiana, are in this district. This site tracks courts-martial for both, and those are tried in military courts.

Acquittals and dismissals are not in the Commission data. The records do not describe the amounts or methods in any case.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Western District of Louisiana (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Louisiana West") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Money Laundering" (18). 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.

## 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 Western District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-western-district-of-louisiana/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Western District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-western-district-of-louisiana/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Western District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-western-district-of-louisiana/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Western District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-western-district-of-louisiana/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Western District of Louisiana, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-western-district-of-louisiana/) (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.