Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $550,001 to $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2017
Federal courts sentenced 1,071 people in fiscal year 2017 for theft or fraud with a dollar loss of $550,001 to $3.5 million. The median prison term for those sent to prison was 33 months (2.8 years), and 90% received a prison term. Only 90 of the 1,071 were convicted after a trial; the rest pleaded
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $550,001 to › $550,001 to $3.5 million: FY2017
In brief: Federal courts sentenced 1,071 people in fiscal year 2017 for theft or fraud with a dollar loss of $550,001 to $3.5 million. The median prison term for those sent to prison was 33 months (2.8 years), and 90% received a prison term. Only 90 of the 1,071 were convicted after a trial; the rest pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 1,071 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017. 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.
What Was Counted
This post draws on U.S. Sentencing Commission records for guideline §2B1.1, which covers theft, fraud, and related property offenses. It includes each person sentenced in fiscal year 2017 whose recorded loss was in the $550,001 to $3.5 million band. That band is one of the steps in the loss table built into the guideline.
Only convicted and sentenced people are in this data. An acquittal or a dismissal leaves no record here. Fiscal year 2017 ran from October 1, 2016, to September 30, 2017.
Did Trials Lead to Longer Prison Terms in 2017?
For the 981 people who pleaded guilty (92%), the median prison term was 33 months. For people convicted at trial, it was 48 months. That trial figure rests on 87 people who were convicted at trial and sent to prison.
A written plea agreement was part of 94% of the guilty pleas. In 6%, the person entered a straight plea without any agreement.
The records show how the plea group and the trial group were sentenced. They do not show how the cases differed before sentencing, so the gap between those medians cannot be read as the effect of going to trial.
Prison Terms and Probation
Of the 1,071 people, 965 (90%) received a prison term. Probation alone, with no prison or other confinement, was the sentence for 78 people (7%).
Prison terms spread widely around the 33-month median. The longest quarter of terms were 51 months or more. The shortest quarter were 20 months or less.
Sentences Measured Against the Guideline Range
Every one of the 1,071 records showed where the sentence fell against the guideline range. In 35% (378), the judge went below the range without a request from the government. In 34% (369), the sentence was below the range at the government's request. A sentence within the range was given in 28% (305). Just 2% (19) were above the range.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied in 133 cases (12%).
Other Parts of the Sentence
Courts ordered restitution for 988 people (92%) and a fine for 37 (3%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 950 people (89%). The median length of that supervision was 36 months.
The guideline scale for criminal history runs from category I to category VI. In this group, 76% were placed in category I, the lowest, and 2% in category VI, the highest.
The 2017 Numbers in a Wider Frame
All §2B1.1 cases sentenced in fiscal year 2017, from every loss band, totaled 6,358 people. Their median prison term was 24 months, and 72% went to prison. The $550,001 to $3.5 million group had a longer median term and a higher prison rate than that full group.
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the band counted 8,821 people, with a median prison term of 33 months and 92% sent to prison. The yearly table lists each fiscal year in the band.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1,163 | 33 months | 92% |
| 2017 | 1,071 | 33 months | 92% |
| 2018 | 925 | 36 months | 90% |
| 2019 | 842 | 33 months | 91% |
| 2020 | 633 | 32 months | 93% |
| 2021 | 582 | 32 months | 97% |
| 2022 | 857 | 33 months | 96% |
| 2023 | 873 | 32.5 months | 94% |
| 2024 | 939 | 30 months | 95% |
| 2025 | 936 | 30 months | 95% |
What the Data Leaves Out
There is no matching court-martial figure. Military trial records rarely state the dollar value in a larceny case, and they do not record criminal history. The federal records also say nothing about cases that ended without a sentence, or about the reasons behind any single sentence.
How We Counted
People sentenced in fiscal year 2017 under guideline §2B1.1 whose recorded dollar loss falls in the band "$550,001 to $3.5 million" (1,071), 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 $550,001 to $3.5 Million, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $550,001 to $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2016 (previous or next year)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $550,001 to $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2018 (previous or next year)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With No Dollar Loss, Fiscal Year 2017 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $1,000 or Less, Fiscal Year 2017 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $1,001 to $15,000, Fiscal Year 2017 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $15,001 to $95,000, Fiscal Year 2017 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $95,001 to $550,000, Fiscal Year 2017 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss Over $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2017 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With the Loss Amount Not Specified, Fiscal Year 2017 (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.