Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $550,001 to $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2021
Almost every person sentenced in fiscal year 2021 for federal theft or fraud with a loss of $550,001 to $3.5 million had pleaded guilty: 566 of 582, or 97%. Only 16 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term for those sent to prison was 32 months (2.7 years).
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 7 min read
Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $550,001 to › $550,001 to $3.5 million: FY2021
In brief: Almost every person sentenced in fiscal year 2021 for federal theft or fraud with a loss of $550,001 to $3.5 million had pleaded guilty: 566 of 582, or 97%. Only 16 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term for those sent to prison was 32 months (2.7 years).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 582 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021. 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.
A Year With Very Few Trials
The 97% guilty plea rate in fiscal year 2021 was higher than in any other year in this band's table. The 16 trial convictions are a small number.
People who pleaded guilty had a median prison term of 30 months. For the 16 people convicted at trial and sent to prison, the median was 54 months. With so few trial cases, that median could change a great deal with a few different sentences, and it should not be read as a pattern.
Of the guilty pleas, 95% were made under a written plea agreement and 4% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The Smallest Count in the Table
The 582 people sentenced in this band in 2021 were fewer than in any other fiscal year from 2016 to 2025. Over all of those years, the band held 8,821 people, with a median prison term of 33 months and 92% sent to prison.
The records give the count for each year but not the reasons a count rose or fell.
| 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% |
Prison Terms and Probation
A prison term was ordered for 535 of the 582 people (92%). Another 35 (6%) were sentenced to probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
Of the prison terms, a quarter were 51 months or more and a quarter were 18 months or less. The middle term was 32 months.
Guideline Range and Mandatory Minimums
The records for 581 people showed where the sentence fell against the guideline range. Below the range without a government request was the largest group, at 36% (207). Below the range at the government's request followed, at 35% (201). Within the range came next at 28% (163), and above the range was 2% (10).
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 56 people (10%).
Restitution, Fines, Supervision, and Criminal History
Courts ordered restitution for 531 people (91%) and a fine for 31 (5%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 527 people (91%), with a median of 36 months.
In criminal history, 79% were in category I, the lowest, and 2% in category VI, the highest.
Every Loss Band Together
All §2B1.1 theft and fraud sentences in fiscal year 2021, at every loss amount, came to 4,235 people. Their median prison term was 20 months, and 71% were sent to prison. The $550,001 to $3.5 million band had a longer median and a higher prison rate.
How These People Were Counted
The source is the U.S. Sentencing Commission, which records only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are absent. Fiscal year 2021 ran from October 1, 2020, to September 30, 2021. The $550,001 and $3.5 million edges are steps in the guideline §2B1.1 loss table.
Court-martial records cannot be sorted into this band because they rarely state the dollar value of a larceny. They also lack a criminal history field. These records cannot show why so few cases in this band went to trial in 2021.
How We Counted
People sentenced in fiscal year 2021 under guideline §2B1.1 whose recorded dollar loss falls in the band "$550,001 to $3.5 million" (582), 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 2020 (previous or next year)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $550,001 to $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2022 (previous or next year)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With No Dollar Loss, Fiscal Year 2021 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $1,000 or Less, Fiscal Year 2021 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $1,001 to $15,000, Fiscal Year 2021 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $15,001 to $95,000, Fiscal Year 2021 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $95,001 to $550,000, Fiscal Year 2021 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss Over $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2021 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With the Loss Amount Not Specified, Fiscal Year 2021 (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.