Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $15,001 to $95,000, Fiscal Year 2016
Federal courts sentenced 1,448 people in fiscal year 2016 for theft or fraud with a recorded loss between $15,001 and $95,000. Of them, 809 (56%) received a prison term, and the median term for that group was 12 months. The 29 people convicted at trial had a median prison term of 26 months, compared
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $15,001 to › $15,001 to $95,000: FY2016
In brief: Federal courts sentenced 1,448 people in fiscal year 2016 for theft or fraud with a recorded loss between $15,001 and $95,000. Of them, 809 (56%) received a prison term, and the median term for that group was 12 months. The 29 people convicted at trial had a median prison term of 26 months, compared with 12 months after a guilty plea.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 1,448 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016. 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.
Who Is Counted in This Group
The count covers people sentenced under guideline §2B1.1, the federal guideline for theft, fraud, and related property crimes. Each person's recorded dollar loss fell in the $15,001 to $95,000 band. The edges of the band match steps in the loss table that the guideline uses.
Only people who were convicted and sentenced appear in these Sentencing Commission records. A person who was acquitted, or whose case was dismissed, is not part of the 1,448.
Fiscal year 2016 ran from October 1, 2015, to September 30, 2016. The yearly table later in this post shows that no later fiscal year had more people sentenced in this band.
Prison Terms and Probation
A prison term was ordered for 809 people. Another 422 (29%) received probation only, which means no prison or other confinement.
For the 809 who went to prison, the median term was 12 months. The median is the middle value once every term is put in order. A quarter of this group received 27 months or more, and a quarter received 4.4 months or less.
Over all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 in this band, 58% of people were sent to prison and the median term was 12 months. The fiscal year 2016 prison share was lower than that, and the median was the same.
Guilty Pleas Compared With Trials
Guilty pleas accounted for 1,419 of the 1,448 cases (98%). The remaining 29 people were convicted after a trial.
Most pleas came with a deal on paper. A written plea agreement was part of 89% of the guilty pleas, and 11% were straight pleas with no agreement.
People who pleaded guilty and went to prison had a median term of 12 months. People convicted at trial and sent to prison had a median term of 26 months, a figure based on 22 people. The records do not show the charges or facts behind those 22 terms, so the gap cannot be traced to any one cause.
Where Sentences Fell Against the Guideline Range
The guideline range is the span of months that the federal sentencing guidelines produce from the offense and the person's criminal history. Judges must calculate it, but they may sentence outside it.
All 1,448 records include this information. Within the range were 49% (707). Below the range at the government's request were 19% (273). Below the range with no government request were 30% (430). Above the range were 3% (38).
Mandatory Minimums, Restitution, and Supervision
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 180 people (12%). A mandatory minimum is a floor set by statute.
Restitution, an order to repay victims, was part of the sentence for 1,291 people (89%). A fine was ordered for 103 (7%).
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 789 people (54%). The median supervised release term was 36 months.
Criminal history was low for most people in the band: 66% were in category I, the lowest category. In category VI, the highest, were 5%.
How This Band Fits Within All Theft and Fraud Cases
Every §2B1.1 loss band together covered 7,104 people in fiscal year 2016. That full group had a median prison term of 22.2 months, and 70% were sent to prison.
The $15,001 to $95,000 band had a shorter median prison term than the full group, 12 months against 22.2 months, and a lower share sent to prison. The table shows the band's count, median prison term, and guilty plea rate for each fiscal year.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1,448 | 12 months | 98% |
| 2017 | 1,270 | 14 months | 97% |
| 2018 | 1,185 | 14 months | 98% |
| 2019 | 1,076 | 12 months | 97% |
| 2020 | 897 | 12 months | 98% |
| 2021 | 826 | 12.3 months | more than 99% |
| 2022 | 934 | 12 months | 98% |
| 2023 | 883 | 12 months | 98% |
| 2024 | 907 | 12 months | 98% |
| 2025 | 905 | 10 months | 99% |
What the Records Leave Out
Court-martial records rarely give the dollar value of a larceny. For that reason, no group of military cases can be matched to this federal band. Court-martial records also have no criminal history field.
The federal records count orders such as restitution and supervised release. They do not explain why a judge chose a sentence inside or outside the guideline range.
How We Counted
People sentenced in fiscal year 2016 under guideline §2B1.1 whose recorded dollar loss falls in the band "$15,001 to $95,000" (1,448), U.S. Sentencing Commission (LOSSHI).
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
Different cases reach each system. Federal prosecutors bring a narrow set of cases. In fiscal year 2024, immigration and drug trafficking cases were 59% of everyone sentenced in federal court (36,664 of 61,678). Many crimes that the military prosecutes, such as most assaults, most sexual assaults between adults, and drug use, are usually state crimes for civilians and reach federal court only in special situations, such as on federal land or in Indian Country. A federal case and a court-martial for the same crime can involve different kinds of facts.
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.
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 (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $15,001 to $95,000, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $15,001 to $95,000, Fiscal Year 2017 (previous or next year)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With No Dollar Loss, Fiscal Year 2016 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $1,000 or Less, Fiscal Year 2016 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $1,001 to $15,000, Fiscal Year 2016 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $95,001 to $550,000, Fiscal Year 2016 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $550,001 to $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2016 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss Over $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2016 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With the Loss Amount Not Specified, Fiscal Year 2016 (same year, other loss band)
- Theft and Fraud by Dollar Loss: Federal Sentences vs. Article 121 Courts-Martial
- Army Article 121 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025 (court-martial data)
- Air Force Article 121 Cases by the Numbers, 2016–2025 (court-martial data)
- How Has Article 121 Changed in Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial Since 2017? (court-martial data)
- Article 121 (Larceny): Court-Martial Data and Trends (court-martial data)
- Article 121 UCMJ: Larceny and Wrongful Appropriation (law firm reference page)
- 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.