Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss Over $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2025
In fiscal year 2025, the most recent year in these records, 443 people were sentenced for federal theft or fraud with a loss over $3.5 million. Of them, 415 (94%) went to prison, and the median prison term was 48 months (4 years). After a trial, the median was 72 months; after a guilty plea, it was
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss Over $3.5 Mill › over $3.5 million: FY2025
In brief: In fiscal year 2025, the most recent year in these records, 443 people were sentenced for federal theft or fraud with a loss over $3.5 million. Of them, 415 (94%) went to prison, and the median prison term was 48 months (4 years). After a trial, the median was 72 months; after a guilty plea, it was 46 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 443 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025. 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.
The Most Recent Fiscal Year
Fiscal year 2025 ran from October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025. In that year, federal judges sentenced 443 people under guideline §2B1.1 whose recorded loss was over $3.5 million.
The 48-month median prison term matched the 2021 and 2024 medians in the yearly table. It was lower than the 54-month median for the band over fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
| 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% |
Plea or Trial: Median Prison Terms
Guilty pleas resolved 397 of the 443 cases (90%), and 46 people were convicted at trial.
The median trial figure of 72 months is based on 45 people who were convicted at trial and sent to prison. People who pleaded guilty had a median prison term of 46 months. The plea and trial groups are not matched, so the data cannot say how much of the gap reflects the trial and how much reflects differences between the cases.
Written plea agreements were part of 93% of the guilty pleas. Straight pleas, entered with no agreement, made up 7%.
Who Received Prison and for How Long
Prison was imposed on 415 people (94%). Probation alone, with no prison or other confinement, was imposed on 19 (4%).
Terms varied widely around the median of 48 months. The shortest quarter of terms were 24 months or less. The longest quarter were 82.5 months or more.
Guideline Range Positions in 2025
Each of the 443 records listed the sentence's position against the guideline range. Below the range at the government's request was the most frequent: 189 people (43%).
Below the range without a government request was next: 155 people (35%). Within the range came to 90 people (20%), and above the range to 9 (2%). The reasons behind these positions are not in the records.
Fines, Restitution, and Supervision Orders
A fine was ordered for 40 people (9%). Restitution was ordered for 399 (90%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 403 (91%), with a median of 36 months.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 36 people (8%). On criminal history, category I, the lowest, covered 86% of the group, and category VI, the highest, covered 2%.
Compared With All Theft and Fraud Sentences
In fiscal year 2025, 4,804 people were sentenced for theft or fraud under §2B1.1 across all loss bands. Their median prison term was 20.5 months, and 75% went to prison. In the over-$3.5 million band, the prison share was higher and the median term was longer.
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the band itself included 3,842 people, and 94% of them went to prison.
What Is Missing
The U.S. Sentencing Commission records begin at sentencing, so people who were acquitted or whose cases were dismissed are not counted. Court-martial records seldom record the dollar value of a larceny or a criminal history score, so they offer no comparison for this band.
How We Counted
People sentenced in fiscal year 2025 under guideline §2B1.1 whose recorded dollar loss falls in the band "over $3.5 million" (443), 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 2024 (previous or next year)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With No Dollar Loss, Fiscal Year 2025 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $1,000 or Less, Fiscal Year 2025 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $1,001 to $15,000, Fiscal Year 2025 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $15,001 to $95,000, Fiscal Year 2025 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $95,001 to $550,000, Fiscal Year 2025 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With a Loss of $550,001 to $3.5 Million, Fiscal Year 2025 (same year, other loss band)
- Federal Theft and Fraud Sentences With the Loss Amount Not Specified, Fiscal Year 2025 (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.