> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $95,001 to $550,000, Fiscal Year 2020 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-theft-fraud-loss-95001-to-550000-fy2020/ - Published: 2026-11-03T06:12:27.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T06:12:27.000Z - Description: Fiscal year 2020 had the fewest sentences in this loss band of any year from 2016 to 2025: 944 people sentenced for federal theft or fraud with a loss of $95,001 to $550,000. Of them, 748 (79%) went to prison, and the median prison term was 21 months. A sentence below the guideline range without a g - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $95,001 to ](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-theft-fraud-loss-95001-to-550000/) › $95,001 to $550,000: FY2020 **In brief:** Fiscal year 2020 had the fewest sentences in this loss band of any year from 2016 to 2025: 944 people sentenced for federal theft or fraud with a loss of $95,001 to $550,000\. Of them, 748 (79%) went to prison, and the median prison term was 21 months. A sentence below the guideline range without a government request was the most common result, at 42%. Updated November 3, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025 This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 944 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020\. 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/). ## A Lower Count of Sentences The year-by-year table shows 944 people sentenced in this band in fiscal year 2020\. No other year in the table has a lower count. The next year, fiscal year 2021, had 1,013. The records give counts, not explanations. They cannot show why fewer people were sentenced in this band that year. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 1,670 | 21 months | 96% | | 2017 | 1,489 | 21 months | 96% | | 2018 | 1,328 | 21 months | 95% | | 2019 | 1,283 | 21 months | 96% | | 2020 | 944 | 21 months | 98% | | 2021 | 1,013 | 20.5 months | 99% | | 2022 | 1,228 | 20.1 months | 98% | | 2023 | 1,247 | 21 months | 96% | | 2024 | 1,280 | 18 months | 97% | | 2025 | 1,227 | 18 months | 98% | ## Below the Range Without a Government Request Every one of the 944 records shows where the sentence fell against the guideline range. The judge went below the range without a request from the government in 396 cases, or 42%. Within-range sentences numbered 286 (30%). Below-range sentences at the government's request numbered 244 (26%). Above-range sentences numbered 18 (2%). ## Prison and Probation Of the 944 people, 748 received a prison term, or 79%. Probation only, without prison or other confinement, went to 123 people (13%). The median prison term was 21 months. A quarter of the prison terms were 36 months or more, and a quarter were 12 months or less. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 153 people, or 16%. The records here do not say which statute set the minimum in each case. ## How the Cases Were Resolved Guilty pleas made up 98% of the group: 924 of 944\. Only 20 people were convicted after a trial. All 20 of the people convicted at trial went to prison, and their median prison term was 37 months. For people who pleaded guilty, the median was 21 months. With only 20 trial convictions, that figure is based on a small group. Among the guilty pleas, 92% were made under a written plea agreement, and 8% were straight pleas with no agreement. ## Other Terms of the Sentence Supervised release after prison was ordered for 730 people (77%). The median supervised release term was 36 months. Restitution to victims was ordered for 854 people (90%). A fine was ordered for 49 people (5%). Most people had little prior record under the guidelines: 69% were in criminal history category I, and 5% were in category VI. ## Context From Other Years and All Loss Bands From fiscal year 2016 to 2025, the band held 12,709 people in all. Of those, 78% went to prison, and the median prison term was 20 months. Across all §2B1.1 loss bands in fiscal year 2020, 4,356 people were sentenced. Among them, 72% went to prison, and the median prison term was 18 months. The band in this post had a higher prison rate and a higher median than that wider group. ## About the Data The U.S. Sentencing Commission counts only people convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals do not appear. Fiscal year 2020 ran from October 1, 2019, to September 30, 2020. The dollar band follows the steps of the loss table in guideline §2B1.1\. Court-martial records rarely give the value of a larceny, so no military count exists for this band. ### How We Counted People sentenced in fiscal year 2020 under guideline §2B1.1 whose recorded dollar loss falls in the band "$95,001 to $550,000" (944), 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article) - [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts) - [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method) - [Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $95,001 to $550,000, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-theft-fraud-loss-95001-to-550000/) (overview) - [Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $95,001 to $550,000, Fiscal Year 2019](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-theft-fraud-loss-95001-to-550000-fy2019/) (previous or next year) - [Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $95,001 to $550,000, Fiscal Year 2021](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-theft-fraud-loss-95001-to-550000-fy2021/) (previous or next year) - [Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With No Dollar Loss, Fiscal Year 2020](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-theft-fraud-loss-no-loss-fy2020/) (same year, other loss band) - [Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $1,000 or Less, Fiscal Year 2020](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-theft-fraud-loss-1000-or-less-fy2020/) (same year, other loss band) - [Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $1,001 to $15,000, Fiscal Year 2020](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-theft-fraud-loss-1001-to-15000-fy2020/) (same year, other loss band) - [Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $15,001 to $95,000, Fiscal Year 2020](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-theft-fraud-loss-15001-to-95000-fy2020/) (same year, other loss band) - [Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $550,001 to $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2020](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-theft-fraud-loss-550001-to-3-5-million-fy2020/) (same year, other loss band) - [Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss Over $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2020](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-theft-fraud-loss-over-3-5-million-fy2020/) (same year, other loss band) - [Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With the Loss Amount Not Specified, Fiscal Year 2020](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-theft-fraud-loss-not-specified-fy2020/) (same year, other loss band) - [Theft and Fraud by Dollar Loss: Federal Sentences vs. Article 121 Courts-Martial](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-theft-fraud-dollar-loss-vs-article-121/) - [Army Article 121 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-121-trend-2021-2025/) (court-martial data) - [Air Force Article 121 Cases by the Numbers, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-121-trend-2016-2025/) (court-martial data) - [How Has Article 121 Changed in Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial Since 2017?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-121-trend-2017-2025/) (court-martial data) - [Article 121 (Larceny): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-121-courts-martial/) (court-martial data) - [Article 121 UCMJ: Larceny and Wrongful Appropriation](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-121/?ref=bodiesburied.com) (law firm reference page) - [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source) - [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.