Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $550,001 to $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2025
Fiscal year 2025 is the latest year in this series. Federal courts sentenced 936 people that year for theft or fraud with a loss between $550,001 and $3.5 million, and 857 (92%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 30 months (2.5 years): 30 months after a guilty plea and 60 months afte
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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: FY2025
In brief: Fiscal year 2025 is the latest year in this series. Federal courts sentenced 936 people that year for theft or fraud with a loss between $550,001 and $3.5 million, and 857 (92%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 30 months (2.5 years): 30 months after a guilty plea and 60 months after a trial.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 936 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025. 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.
The Most Recent Fiscal Year
Fiscal year 2025 ran from October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025. In that period, the U.S. Sentencing Commission recorded 936 people sentenced under guideline §2B1.1 with a loss in this band. Guideline §2B1.1 is the federal guideline for theft and fraud, and the band edges are steps in its loss table.
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. The data has no acquittals and no dismissals.
How Long Were the Prison Terms?
Of the 936 people, 857 were sent to prison. The middle prison term among them was 30 months. A quarter of terms were 51 months or more, and a quarter were 18 months or less.
Probation with no prison or other confinement was the sentence for 63 people (7%).
The 30-month median is lower than the 33-month median for the band across fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Over those years, 8,821 people were sentenced in the band, and 92% were sent to prison.
| 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% |
Guilty Pleas and the 51 Trial Convictions
There were 885 guilty pleas, a rate of 95%. The other 51 people were convicted after a trial.
All 51 people convicted at trial were sent to prison, and their median prison term was 60 months. The median after a guilty plea was 30 months. These records cannot separate the effect of a trial from other differences between the cases.
A written plea agreement was part of 96% of the guilty pleas. Straight pleas, with no agreement, were 4%.
Sentences and the Guideline Range in 2025
The records for 935 people showed how the sentence compared with the guideline range. Below the range at the government's request was 35% (324). Below the range with no government request was 34% (320). Within the range was 29% (268). Above the range was 2% (23).
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 83 people (9%).
Restitution, Fines, and Time on Supervision
Restitution was ordered for 859 people (92%). A fine was ordered for 52 (6%).
Supervised release after prison was part of the sentence for 842 people (90%). The median supervised release term was 36 months.
Criminal history: 79% were in category I, the lowest on the guideline scale, and 3% were in category VI, the highest.
The Band Beside All Theft and Fraud Sentences
In fiscal year 2025, 4,804 people were sentenced under guideline §2B1.1 at every loss level. That group had a median prison term of 20.5 months, and 75% went to prison. The $550,001 to $3.5 million band had a longer median and a higher prison rate.
Limits on What These Figures Show
There is no court-martial side to this post. Military records rarely give the dollar amount of a larceny and include no criminal history field. The federal data also cannot show why the 2025 median was lower than the long-run figure, or how any one sentence was decided.
How We Counted
People sentenced in fiscal year 2025 under guideline §2B1.1 whose recorded dollar loss falls in the band "$550,001 to $3.5 million" (936), 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 2024 (previous or next year)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With No Dollar Loss, Fiscal Year 2025 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $1,000 or Less, Fiscal Year 2025 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $1,001 to $15,000, Fiscal Year 2025 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $15,001 to $95,000, Fiscal Year 2025 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $95,001 to $550,000, Fiscal Year 2025 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss Over $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2025 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With the Loss Amount Not Specified, Fiscal Year 2025 (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.