Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $550,001 to $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2024
People sent to prison in fiscal year 2024 for federal theft or fraud with a loss of $550,001 to $3.5 million had a median prison term of 30 months (2.5 years). The Sentencing Commission counted 939 people in this band that year, and 849 of them (90%) received a prison term. Of the 939, 890 pleaded g
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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: FY2024
In brief: People sent to prison in fiscal year 2024 for federal theft or fraud with a loss of $550,001 to $3.5 million had a median prison term of 30 months (2.5 years). The Sentencing Commission counted 939 people in this band that year, and 849 of them (90%) received a prison term. Of the 939, 890 pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 939 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024. 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 30-Month Median in Fiscal Year 2024
The 2024 median of 30 months was lower than the 33-month median for this band over fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The yearly table shows the same 30-month median in fiscal year 2025, and longer medians in each earlier year.
Terms around that median varied. A quarter of the people sent to prison received 48 months or more. A quarter received 16 months or less.
The data shows when the median changed but not why. Each year's group is made up of different people and different cases.
| 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% |
Probation Without Prison
Of the 939 people, 66 (7%) received probation only. Their sentences included no prison or other confinement.
The 849 people who did receive a prison term made up 90% of the group. That is lower than the 92% prison rate for the band across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, when 8,821 people were sentenced.
Plea Agreements and Trials
The guilty plea rate was 95%: 890 people pleaded guilty and 49 were convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 94% had a written plea agreement and 5% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 29 months. After a trial, the median was 56 months, drawn from 48 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. The records do not show what else set the trial cases apart.
Measured Against the Guidelines
For 938 people, the records showed the sentence's position against the guideline range. The breakdown was: below the range without a government request, 36% (335); below the range at the government's request, 35% (327); within the range, 28% (260); above the range, 2% (16).
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 96 people (10%).
Restitution and Supervised Release
Restitution was ordered for 831 people, or 88%. Fines were ordered for 52 (6%).
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 836 people (89%), with a median term of 36 months.
On criminal history, 79% were in the lowest category, category I. Another 2% were in the highest, category VI.
Compared With All §2B1.1 Cases That Year
Across all loss bands in fiscal year 2024, 5,015 people were sentenced under guideline §2B1.1, the guideline for theft and fraud. The median prison term for that full group was 20 months, and 74% were sent to prison. Both figures are lower than in the $550,001 to $3.5 million band.
What the Count Includes and Leaves Out
The U.S. Sentencing Commission records only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not part of the count. Fiscal year 2024 began October 1, 2023, and ended September 30, 2024. The loss band is defined by steps in the guideline loss table.
Court-martial cases cannot be grouped by dollar loss, since military records rarely state the value of a larceny, and they have no criminal history field.
How We Counted
People sentenced in fiscal year 2024 under guideline §2B1.1 whose recorded dollar loss falls in the band "$550,001 to $3.5 million" (939), 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 2023 (previous or next year)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $550,001 to $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2025 (previous or next year)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With No Dollar Loss, Fiscal Year 2024 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $1,000 or Less, Fiscal Year 2024 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $1,001 to $15,000, Fiscal Year 2024 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $15,001 to $95,000, Fiscal Year 2024 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $95,001 to $550,000, Fiscal Year 2024 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss Over $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2024 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With the Loss Amount Not Specified, Fiscal Year 2024 (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.