Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $15,001 to $95,000, Fiscal Year 2018
In fiscal year 2018, 1,185 people were sentenced in federal court for theft or fraud with a loss of $15,001 to $95,000. The median prison term after a trial, 12.5 months, was lower than the 14 months after a guilty plea. Only 27 people went to trial, and the trial median rests on the 22 of them who
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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: FY2018
In brief: In fiscal year 2018, 1,185 people were sentenced in federal court for theft or fraud with a loss of $15,001 to $95,000. The median prison term after a trial, 12.5 months, was lower than the 14 months after a guilty plea. Only 27 people went to trial, and the trial median rests on the 22 of them who were sent to prison.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 1,185 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2018. 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.
Trial and Plea Sentences in Fiscal Year 2018
Guilty pleas made up 1,158 of the 1,185 cases (98%). The other 27 people were convicted after a trial.
Among those who pleaded guilty and received prison, the median term was 14 months. Among the 22 trial convictions that led to prison, the median was 12.5 months.
A group of 22 is small. A handful of sentences at either end can move its median by several months. The records do not list the facts or counts behind these terms, so they cannot show why the trial median was the lower one.
Written plea agreements were part of 90% of the guilty pleas. The other 10% were straight pleas with no agreement.
How Many Received Prison?
A prison term was ordered for 708 people (60%). Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, went to 312 (26%).
The median prison term was 14 months. A quarter of those sent to prison received 29 months or more. A quarter received 6 months or less.
Both the prison share and the median were higher than the band's figures for fiscal years 2016 to 2025 combined: 58% sent to prison, with a median of 12 months.
Mandatory Minimum Terms
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 207 people (17%). A mandatory minimum is a lowest term fixed by statute for certain offenses.
Criminal history scores were mostly low. Category I, the lowest, held 62% of the band. Category VI, the highest, held 6%.
Sentences Measured Against the Guideline Range
Each federal sentence is compared with a guideline range, the span of months the sentencing guidelines call for. The records give the comparison for 1,183 people.
Sentences within the range numbered 588 (50%). The government asked for a sentence below the range for 230 people (19%). For 347 people (29%), the sentence was below the range with no government request. Sentences above the range numbered 18 (2%).
Orders Beyond the Prison Term
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 693 people (58%). Its median length was 36 months.
Restitution to victims was ordered for 1,031 people (87%). A fine was ordered for 68 (6%).
All Loss Bands in Fiscal Year 2018
Across every §2B1.1 loss band, 5,948 people were sentenced in fiscal year 2018. Their median prison term was 24 months, and 74% were sent to prison.
This band's 14-month median was lower than that all-band median. The table lists the band's count, median prison term, and plea rate for each fiscal year from 2016 to 2025.
| 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 This Data Cannot Answer
These figures include only people convicted and sentenced. Cases that ended in acquittal or dismissal are not in the Sentencing Commission data. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2017, to September 30, 2018.
Courts-martial cannot be compared with this band, because military records rarely show the dollar value of a larceny. Military records also lack a criminal history field.
How We Counted
People sentenced in fiscal year 2018 under guideline §2B1.1 whose recorded dollar loss falls in the band "$15,001 to $95,000" (1,185), 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 a Loss of $15,001 to $95,000, Fiscal Year 2019 (previous or next year)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With No Dollar Loss, Fiscal Year 2018 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $1,000 or Less, Fiscal Year 2018 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $1,001 to $15,000, Fiscal Year 2018 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $95,001 to $550,000, Fiscal Year 2018 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $550,001 to $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2018 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss Over $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2018 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With the Loss Amount Not Specified, Fiscal Year 2018 (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.