Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $550,001 to $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2023
For fiscal year 2023, the U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 873 people sentenced for federal theft or fraud with a loss of $550,001 to $3.5 million. The median prison term was 32.5 months (2.7 years), and 92% received a prison term. People convicted at trial had a median of 37 months, compared with
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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: FY2023
In brief: For fiscal year 2023, the U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 873 people sentenced for federal theft or fraud with a loss of $550,001 to $3.5 million. The median prison term was 32.5 months (2.7 years), and 92% received a prison term. People convicted at trial had a median of 37 months, compared with 30 months after a guilty plea.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 873 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023. 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.
Prison Terms After a Plea and After a Trial
In this band, 822 people pleaded guilty (94%) and 51 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a plea was 30 months. After a trial, the median was 37 months, based on 49 people convicted at trial and sent to prison.
The yearly table does not list trial medians, so the 2023 trial figure is not set against other years here. A group of 49 is small enough that a few sentences can move its median. The records also do not show how the trial cases differed from the plea cases.
Written plea agreements covered 96% of guilty pleas, and 4% were straight pleas made without an agreement.
The Guideline Range
Of 872 people with the information, 25% (220) received a sentence within the guideline range. Sentences below the range were more common in both forms: 38% (333) without a government request, and 35% (306) at the government's request. Sentences above the range made up 1% (13).
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 100 people (11%).
Spread of Prison Terms
Prison was ordered for 802 of the 873 people. Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, was ordered for 57 (7%).
Among the prison terms, a quarter were 48.8 months or more and a quarter were 18 months or less.
Supervision and Money Penalties
A total of 790 people (90%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, and their median supervision term was 36 months. Restitution was ordered for 794 people (91%), and a fine for 56 (6%).
By the guideline criminal history scale, 76% were in category I and 3% in category VI. Category I is the lowest and category VI the highest.
How Does the Band Compare With All Theft and Fraud?
In fiscal year 2023, 4,904 people were sentenced under guideline §2B1.1 across every loss band. The median prison term for that group was 21 months, and 75% were sent to prison. People in the $550,001 to $3.5 million band went to prison more often and had a longer median term.
Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the band counted 8,821 people, a median prison term of 33 months, and a 92% prison rate. The table lists the yearly figures.
| 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% |
Scope of the Data and Its Limits
The Sentencing Commission counts people who were convicted and sentenced, not people who were acquitted or whose cases were dismissed. Fiscal year 2023 ran from October 1, 2022, through September 30, 2023. The loss band follows a step in the guideline §2B1.1 loss table.
Court-martial records seldom show the dollar value of a larceny, and they have no criminal history field, so military cases cannot be set beside this band. The federal records also cannot explain any single sentence.
How We Counted
People sentenced in fiscal year 2023 under guideline §2B1.1 whose recorded dollar loss falls in the band "$550,001 to $3.5 million" (873), 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 2022 (previous or next year)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $550,001 to $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2024 (previous or next year)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With No Dollar Loss, Fiscal Year 2023 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $1,000 or Less, Fiscal Year 2023 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $1,001 to $15,000, Fiscal Year 2023 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $15,001 to $95,000, Fiscal Year 2023 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $95,001 to $550,000, Fiscal Year 2023 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss Over $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2023 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With the Loss Amount Not Specified, Fiscal Year 2023 (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.