Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss Over $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2017
The U.S. Sentencing Commission recorded 449 people sentenced for federal theft or fraud with a loss over $3.5 million in fiscal year 2017. The most common outcome against the guideline range was a sentence below the range at the government's request: 40% (179). For the 423 people who received a pris
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 7 min read
Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss Over $3.5 Mill › over $3.5 million: FY2017
In brief: The U.S. Sentencing Commission recorded 449 people sentenced for federal theft or fraud with a loss over $3.5 million in fiscal year 2017. The most common outcome against the guideline range was a sentence below the range at the government's request: 40% (179). For the 423 people who received a prison term, the median was 57 months (4.8 years).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 449 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017. 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.
Below the Range at the Government's Request
Every one of the 449 records showed where the sentence fell against the guideline range. The largest group, 179 people (40%), received a sentence below the range after the government asked for one.
A further 150 people (33%) were sentenced below the range with no government request. Only 113 (25%) received a sentence within the range. Above-range sentences were uncommon: 7 people, or 2%.
The data records that a request was made. It does not record the reason, so these figures cannot explain any single sentence.
Who Is in This Group
The count covers people sentenced under guideline §2B1.1, the federal guideline for theft and fraud, whose recorded loss was over $3.5 million. The loss bands used here follow steps in that guideline's loss table.
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are included. A person who was acquitted, or whose case was dismissed, is not in the data. Fiscal year 2017 covers October 1, 2016, through September 30, 2017.
Criminal history scores in this group were low. Of the 449, 83% fell in category I, the lowest criminal history category, and less than 1% fell in category VI, the highest.
Prison, Probation, and the Spread of Terms
Prison was the usual result. A prison term was imposed on 423 of the 449 people (94%), while 16 (4%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
The median prison term of 57 months is the midpoint: equal numbers of people received longer and shorter terms. At the upper end, a quarter of those in prison received 96 months or more. At the lower end, a quarter received 30 months or less.
Plea Agreements and Trial Convictions
Guilty pleas accounted for 384 of the 449 people (86%). The other 65 were found guilty at trial. Written plea agreements were part of 94% of the guilty pleas, and 6% were straight pleas.
After a guilty plea, the median prison term was 50.5 months. After a trial, the median was 110 months, based on all 65 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. The records cannot say what produced that gap. Tried cases and pleaded cases may not be alike in their facts.
Orders Beyond the Prison Term
Restitution to victims was ordered for 403 people (90%). Fines were much less frequent, ordered for 26 people (6%).
Supervised release after prison was part of the sentence for 414 people (92%), with a median term of 36 months. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 31 people, or 7%.
Fiscal Year 2017 in Context
For the full period of fiscal years 2016 to 2025, this loss band held 3,842 people. That group had a median prison term of 54 months, and 94% went to prison. The 2017 median of 57 months was a little higher.
Theft and fraud sentences across all loss bands in fiscal year 2017 totaled 6,358. Of those, 72% went to prison, and the median prison term was 24 months. The over-$3.5 million band went to prison more often and had a longer median term. The yearly table shows the count, median, and plea rate for every fiscal year in this band.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 401 | 60 months | 85% |
| 2017 | 449 | 57 months | 86% |
| 2018 | 390 | 60 months | 85% |
| 2019 | 369 | 60 months | 86% |
| 2020 | 265 | 57 months | 85% |
| 2021 | 311 | 48 months | 92% |
| 2022 | 391 | 54 months | 87% |
| 2023 | 371 | 51.5 months | 89% |
| 2024 | 452 | 48 months | 92% |
| 2025 | 443 | 48 months | 90% |
Limits of the Data
There is no matching court-martial count for this loss band. Court-martial records rarely give the dollar value of a larceny, and they include no criminal history field. The federal figures describe sentences only. They do not show case facts or the strength of any prosecution.
How We Counted
People sentenced in fiscal year 2017 under guideline §2B1.1 whose recorded dollar loss falls in the band "over $3.5 million" (449), 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 Over $3.5 Million, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss Over $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2016 (previous or next year)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss Over $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2018 (previous or next year)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With No Dollar Loss, Fiscal Year 2017 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $1,000 or Less, Fiscal Year 2017 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $1,001 to $15,000, Fiscal Year 2017 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $15,001 to $95,000, Fiscal Year 2017 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $95,001 to $550,000, Fiscal Year 2017 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $550,001 to $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2017 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With the Loss Amount Not Specified, Fiscal Year 2017 (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.