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# Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With No Dollar Loss, Fiscal Year 2024
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-theft-fraud-loss-no-loss-fy2024/
- Published: 2026-11-03T06:12:11.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-03T06:12:11.000Z
- Description: Federal courts sentenced 152 people in fiscal year 2024 for theft or fraud where the records list no dollar loss. The median prison term was 4.3 months for the 99 people (65%) who went to prison. Most sentences, 85% (129), were within the guideline range.
- 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 No Dollar Loss, FY201](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-theft-fraud-loss-no-loss/) › no loss: FY2024

**In brief:** Federal courts sentenced 152 people in fiscal year 2024 for theft or fraud where the records list no dollar loss. The median prison term was 4.3 months for the 99 people (65%) who went to prison. Most sentences, 85% (129), were within the guideline range.

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 152 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](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 Short Median Prison Term

Among the 99 people sent to prison, the median term was 4.3 months. A quarter received 8.8 months or more, and a quarter received 0.5 months or less.

For this band over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the median was 5.2 months. The fiscal year 2024 median was lower.

Under guideline §2B1.1 as a whole, the fiscal year 2024 median was 20 months. That figure covers 5,015 people in every loss band, and 74% of them went to prison.

## Most Sentences Followed the Guideline Range

The records show the guideline position for all 152 people. The range is the span of months the sentencing guidelines produce for a given person and offense. Of the 152, 85% (129) were sentenced within it.

Few sentences went outside it. Above the range: 7% (11). Below the range without a government request: 6% (9). Below the range at the government's request: 2% (3).

## Prison or Probation

The prison share for fiscal year 2024 was 65%. That was lower than the 69% for the band across all years.

Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, was the sentence for 49 people (32%). The remaining people in the group are counted in neither of these groups.

## Plea and Trial Results in Fiscal Year 2024

Guilty pleas ended 145 of the 152 cases (95%). The other 7 people were convicted after a trial.

The median prison term after a guilty plea was 4.4 months. After a trial, the median was 4 months. That trial figure covers only 3 people who were convicted at trial and sent to prison, so it cannot show a pattern.

Among guilty pleas, 68% had a written plea agreement and 31% were straight pleas with no agreement.

## Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution

Supervised release after prison was ordered for 78 people (51%). The median supervised release term was 30 months.

A fine was ordered for 33 people (22%), and restitution for 4 (3%). A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 5 people (3%).

In criminal history, 82% fell in category I, the lowest category. In category VI, the highest, were 3%.

## How the Band Looks Across Fiscal Years

The table covers the no-loss band from fiscal year 2016 through fiscal year 2025\. Each row gives the number of people sentenced, the median prison term, and the share who pleaded guilty.

Fiscal year 2024 had 152 people, fewer than any earlier year in the table. Only fiscal year 2025, with 135, had fewer.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 178              | 6 months      | 98%            |
| 2017        | 201              | 6 months      | 96%            |
| 2018        | 209              | 6 months      | 97%            |
| 2019        | 234              | 4.4 months    | 97%            |
| 2020        | 404              | 5.2 months    | 98%            |
| 2021        | 240              | 4.5 months    | 98%            |
| 2022        | 292              | 5.8 months    | 99%            |
| 2023        | 162              | 6 months      | 96%            |
| 2024        | 152              | 4.3 months    | 95%            |
| 2025        | 135              | 4 months      | 94%            |

## Questions the Records Cannot Answer

The Sentencing Commission keeps records only for people convicted and sentenced. Anyone acquitted, or whose case was dismissed, is outside these numbers.

These are fiscal year numbers, from October 1 to September 30\. Court-martial data is organized by trial date. Military larceny records rarely list a dollar amount, so courts-martial cannot be split into loss bands, and no court-martial number appears in this post. The records also do not describe the conduct in a no-loss case.

### How We Counted

People sentenced in fiscal year 2024 under guideline §2B1.1 whose recorded dollar loss falls in the band "no loss" (152), 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 No Dollar Loss, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-theft-fraud-loss-no-loss/) (overview)
- [Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With No Dollar Loss, Fiscal Year 2023](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-theft-fraud-loss-no-loss-fy2023/) (previous or next year)
- [Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With No Dollar Loss, Fiscal Year 2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-theft-fraud-loss-no-loss-fy2025/) (previous or next year)
- [Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $1,000 or Less, Fiscal Year 2024](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-theft-fraud-loss-1000-or-less-fy2024/) (same year, other loss band)
- [Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $1,001 to $15,000, Fiscal Year 2024](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-theft-fraud-loss-1001-to-15000-fy2024/) (same year, other loss band)
- [Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $15,001 to $95,000, Fiscal Year 2024](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-theft-fraud-loss-15001-to-95000-fy2024/) (same year, other loss band)
- [Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $95,001 to $550,000, Fiscal Year 2024](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-theft-fraud-loss-95001-to-550000-fy2024/) (same year, other loss band)
- [Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $550,001 to $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2024](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-theft-fraud-loss-550001-to-3-5-million-fy2024/) (same year, other loss band)
- [Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss Over $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2024](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-theft-fraud-loss-over-3-5-million-fy2024/) (same year, other loss band)
- [Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With the Loss Amount Not Specified, Fiscal Year 2024](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-theft-fraud-loss-not-specified-fy2024/) (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.