Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With No Dollar Loss, FY2016–2025
Of 2,207 people sentenced in federal court for theft or fraud with a dollar loss band of no loss, 1,522 (69%) received a prison term and 596 (27%) received probation only. The median prison term was 5.2 months. The band covers fiscal years 2016 to 2025 and counts only people who were convicted and s
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In brief: Of 2,207 people sentenced in federal court for theft or fraud with a dollar loss band of no loss, 1,522 (69%) received a prison term and 596 (27%) received probation only. The median prison term was 5.2 months. The band covers fiscal years 2016 to 2025 and counts only people who were convicted and sentenced.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 2,207 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, compared with court-martial results from this site's Military Trial Results data (updated November 2, 2026). 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.
Who Is in the No-Loss Band?
The U.S. Sentencing Commission records a dollar loss band for each person sentenced under guideline §2B1.1, the theft and fraud guideline. This post covers the band recorded as no loss. It includes 2,207 people sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
This is a different group from the band called loss not specified. In that band, the records show a loss but give no amount. Here the records show no loss.
What Sentences Did They Receive?
A prison term went to 1,522 of the 2,207 (69%). Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, went to 596 (27%).
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 5.2 months. A quarter received 9 months or more, and a quarter received 2 months or less. All §2B1.1 cases together had a median prison term of 21 months, and 73% were sent to prison.
How Did Pleas and Trials Compare?
Guilty pleas made up 2,142 of the 2,207 cases (97%), and 65 people were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 5.1 months. After a trial it was 8 months, based on 45 people convicted at trial and sent to prison.
Among the guilty pleas, 69% had a written plea agreement and 30% were straight pleas with no agreement. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 78 people (4%).
Where Did Sentences Fall Against the Guideline Range?
Of the 2,207 people with the information, 80% (1,766) were sentenced within the guideline range. Another 4% (94) were below the range at the government's request, and 7% (145) were below it without a government request. A sentence above the range went to 9% (202).
This band has the largest share above the range of any of the dollar bands in this series. The records do not show the reasons for those sentences.
What Else Came With the Sentence?
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 1,097 people (50%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 396 (18%), and restitution for 42 (2%).
Restitution was the least common of these orders. In the criminal history data, 80% were in the lowest category and 3% in the highest.
How Did the Band Change by Year?
The number sentenced was highest in fiscal year 2020 at 404 and lowest in fiscal year 2025 at 135. The median prison term was 4 months in fiscal year 2025 and 6 months in fiscal years 2016 to 2018.
Guilty pleas were 94% or higher in every year.
| 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% |
What Can Courts-Martial Be Compared To?
Court-martial records rarely show the dollar value of a larceny, so the court-martial side cannot be split by dollar loss. The UCMJ sets a higher maximum punishment when the property is worth more than $1,000 or is military property. Court-martial records also have no criminal history field.
The records do not show what conduct is behind a no-loss entry, so this band cannot be matched to any Article 121 case.
How We Counted
People sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under guideline §2B1.1 whose recorded dollar loss falls in the band "no loss" (2,207), U.S. Sentencing Commission (LOSSHI). "Loss not specified" means the records show a loss with no amount.
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.
Offense categories do not line up exactly. Each comparison uses a federal offense group chosen to match the military article as closely as possible (see the crosswalk). Some matches are close; others are partial. The post says which federal guideline or statute was used and why it is not an exact match.
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)
- Theft and Fraud by Dollar Loss: Federal Sentences vs. Article 121 Courts-Martial (overview)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $1,000 or Less, FY2016–2025
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $1,001 to $15,000, FY2016–2025
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $15,001 to $95,000, FY2016–2025
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $95,001 to $550,000, FY2016–2025
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $550,001 to $3.5 Million, FY2016–2025
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss Over $3.5 Million, FY2016–2025
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With the Loss Amount Not Specified, FY2016–2025
- Army Article 121 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025 (court-martial data)
- Article 121 Sentences in the Army: Confinement and Discharges, 2021–2025 (court-martial data)
- Fighting an Army Larceny Charge: How Contested Cases Ended (court-martial data)
- Guilty Pleas in Army Larceny Cases: How Often, and What Came Next (court-martial data)
- Air Force Article 121 Cases by the Numbers, 2016–2025 (court-martial data)
- What Sentence Follows an Air Force Larceny Conviction? (court-martial data)
- Pleading Guilty to Article 121 in the Air Force: What Sentences Followed? (court-martial data)
- How Has Article 121 Changed in Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial Since 2017? (court-martial data)
- Article 121 Sentences in the Navy-Marine Corps: Confinement and Discharges, 2017–2025 (court-martial data)
- Not Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps Article 121 Cases: What Happened at Trial (court-martial data)
- Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps Larceny Cases: How Often, and What Came Next (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.