Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With the Loss Amount Not Specified, Fiscal Year 2022
In fiscal year 2022, federal judges sentenced 1,062 people under the theft and fraud guideline, §2B1.1, in cases with no loss amount specified. 805 (76%) received a prison term, with a median of 18 months. 67 people (6%) received a sentence above the guideline range, and 471 (44%) received one withi
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In brief: In fiscal year 2022, federal judges sentenced 1,062 people under the theft and fraud guideline, §2B1.1, in cases with no loss amount specified. 805 (76%) received a prison term, with a median of 18 months. 67 people (6%) received a sentence above the guideline range, and 471 (44%) received one within it.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 1,062 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2022. 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.
Sentences Above and Below the Range
The guideline range is the number of months the federal sentencing guidelines recommend for a case. In fiscal year 2022, all 1,062 people in this band had a recorded position against it.
471 (44%) were sentenced within the range. 274 (26%) were sentenced below it without a request from the government. 250 (24%) were sentenced below it at the government's request. 67 (6%) were sentenced above it.
Sentences above the range were less common than any other position, but 67 people still received one.
The Loss Band in This Post
Under §2B1.1, the offense level depends in part on the dollar loss. The Sentencing Commission groups cases into loss bands that match the steps of the guideline's loss table. The 1,062 cases here have no loss figure in the records.
The data counts people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquitted people and dismissed cases are not part of it. Fiscal year 2022 ran from October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2022.
Prison and Probation
805 of 1,062 were sent to prison. Their median prison term was 18 months. A quarter received 36 months or more, and a quarter received 6 months or less.
220 (21%) received probation only, meaning no prison or other confinement. 753 (71%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, for a median of 36 months.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 99 people (9%).
Plea Cases and Trial Cases
1,011 of the 1,062 (95%) pleaded guilty, and 51 were convicted at trial. 91% of the guilty pleas were made under a written plea agreement. 9% were straight pleas.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 18 months. The median after a trial was 52.5 months, based on 50 people who were convicted at trial and sent to prison. The records do not describe the charges or conduct in those trials, so the gap is a description only.
Fines, Restitution, and Criminal History Category
Courts ordered restitution for 653 people (61%) and a fine for 134 (13%).
69% were placed in criminal history category I, the lowest. 6% were placed in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records do not include a criminal history category.
Compared With All §2B1.1 Cases
Across every loss band, 5,208 people were sentenced under §2B1.1 in fiscal year 2022. Their median prison term was 21 months, and 76% went to prison. This band's 18-month median was lower, while its prison rate was the same.
Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, this band included 10,086 people. The median prison term for that whole period was 20 months, and 74% were sent to prison.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1,240 | 24 months | 95% |
| 2017 | 1,064 | 24 months | 95% |
| 2018 | 1,242 | 24 months | 95% |
| 2019 | 1,244 | 20 months | 96% |
| 2020 | 715 | 18 months | 96% |
| 2021 | 834 | 16.9 months | 97% |
| 2022 | 1,062 | 18 months | 95% |
| 2023 | 907 | 18 months | 95% |
| 2024 | 908 | 21 months | 95% |
| 2025 | 870 | 18 months | 96% |
Gaps in the Record
The data does not explain why a loss amount is missing, why a judge went above or below the range, or what each case involved. Court-martial records rarely report a dollar value in a larceny case, so no military group can be matched to this band.
How We Counted
People sentenced in fiscal year 2022 under guideline §2B1.1 whose recorded dollar loss falls in the band "loss not specified" (1,062), 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 the Loss Amount Not Specified, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With the Loss Amount Not Specified, Fiscal Year 2021 (previous or next year)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With the Loss Amount Not Specified, Fiscal Year 2023 (previous or next year)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With No Dollar Loss, Fiscal Year 2022 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $1,000 or Less, Fiscal Year 2022 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $1,001 to $15,000, Fiscal Year 2022 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $15,001 to $95,000, Fiscal Year 2022 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $95,001 to $550,000, Fiscal Year 2022 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $550,001 to $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2022 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss Over $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2022 (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.