Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss Over $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2022
In fiscal year 2022, 374 of the 391 people sentenced for federal theft or fraud with a loss over $3.5 million received a prison term: 96%. Only 10 (3%) received probation alone. The median prison term was 54 months (4.5 years), the same as this band's median across fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss Over $3.5 Mill › over $3.5 million: FY2022
In brief: In fiscal year 2022, 374 of the 391 people sentenced for federal theft or fraud with a loss over $3.5 million received a prison term: 96%. Only 10 (3%) received probation alone. The median prison term was 54 months (4.5 years), the same as this band's median across fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 391 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.
How Many Went to Prison in 2022?
The prison share for this band in 2022 was 96%, or 374 people. Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the share for the band was 94%.
The 10 people sentenced to probation only received no prison or other confinement. They made up 3% of the 391.
Among people in prison, the bottom quarter received 28 months or less. The top quarter received 81 months or more. The median, the middle term in the list, was 54 months.
A Median Equal to the All-Years Figure
The 3,842 people in this band from fiscal year 2016 to fiscal year 2025 had a median prison term of 54 months. The 2022 median matched it.
The table gives each fiscal year's count of people sentenced, median prison term, and guilty plea rate for the 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% |
Pleas and Trial Convictions
A guilty plea ended 341 of the 391 cases (87%). Trial convictions accounted for 50.
Written plea agreements were in place for 95% of the guilty pleas. Straight pleas, with no agreement, were 4%.
For guilty pleas, the median prison term was 51 months. For the 50 people convicted at trial, all of whom were sent to prison, the median was 104 months. The sentencing records show this difference but not its source, and tried cases may not resemble pleaded cases.
Position Against the Guideline Range
For the 391 people with this information, 40% (156) received a sentence below the range at the government's request. Another 38% (150) received a below-range sentence that the government did not request.
Within the range were 19% (76). Above it were 2% (9). Reasons for departures and variances are not part of the data used here.
Criminal History, Restitution, and Supervision
People in this group mostly had low criminal history scores. Category I, the lowest, held 87%. Category VI, the highest, held less than 1%.
Restitution to victims was ordered for 346 people (88%). Fines were ordered for 24 (6%). After prison, 366 people (94%) were placed on supervised release, with a median term of 36 months.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 20 people (5%).
All Theft and Fraud Cases in Fiscal Year 2022
Counting every loss band, 5,208 people were sentenced under guideline §2B1.1 in fiscal year 2022. Of those, 76% went to prison, with a median prison term of 21 months. The over-$3.5 million band had a higher prison share and a longer median term than that overall group.
Boundaries of These Figures
Only convictions that reached sentencing are counted. Acquitted people and dismissed cases are outside the data. The federal fiscal year 2022 began on October 1, 2021, and closed on September 30, 2022.
No court-martial figures appear here. Court-martial records rarely list how much money a larceny involved, so they cannot be grouped into loss bands.
How We Counted
People sentenced in fiscal year 2022 under guideline §2B1.1 whose recorded dollar loss falls in the band "over $3.5 million" (391), 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 2021 (previous or next year)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss Over $3.5 Million, 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 the Loss Amount Not Specified, 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.