What Is the Jail Time for Fraud-Related Crimes In Maryland?

What Is the Jail Time for Fraud-Related Crimes In Maryland?

Getting convicted of fraud or another crime associated with fraud can attract some penalties and fines. This is because fraud is a federal offense and will be prosecuted as such, be it at the federal or state level. The penalties that come with fraud convictions can be very serious, as they can affect you and everything associated with you. It can affect your family, your work, and your life in general, which is why you need to be careful.

Federal fraud convictions often attract long sentences. In other words, getting charged for fraud means going to jail for a long time. This article highlights some details of fraud charges and their sentences. Connected to a fraud case? This article is just the best thing for you.

Who is in Charge of Fraud Sentences in Maryland and America?

The United States Sentencing Commission oversees reviewing fraud and embezzlement crimes on behalf of the United States government. While embezzlement, fraud, and theft are in the same crime type bracket in Maryland and other states, they are quite distinct. One thing that these crimes have in common is the misappropriation of finances.

Fraud involves posting crimes ranging between taking money from a safe without the owner’s permission to securities fraud. Financial crimes that affect a larger swath of people and involve billions of dollars also belong to this category. It is for this single reason that fraud and embezzlement (and other forms of financial theft) imposes different penalties.

Federal courts do not often use the same sentencing guidelines, as each specific jurisdiction (where the crime was committed) possesses its peculiarity. Hence, it is not uncommon to see judges in certain jurisdictions show more leniency than others even though the same crime was committed. While this causes a somewhat imperfect balance of sentences, it makes more sense as fraud might be more common in some areas than others.

A certain set of 2019 records shows that Florida has the most sentences, with the Northern Mariana Islands having the least. The heavily populated states usually dole out more sentences than the less populated ones. After all, fraud and embezzlement are more likely to occur in areas of higher economic activity where finances are higher than usual. These areas also contain people with significant assets, so this is expected.

According to the same data source, sentencing guidelines allow a lesser sentence for non-violent offenses. It is in cases like this that the sentence includes probation. On the other hand, violent offenses take longer sentences, as the jury and judges predict that violent offenders usually fall into the same sin. However, this is not the case for financial crimes (embezzlement, fraud) at the federal court.

Financial crimes attract prison time with such high probability, with just about fifteen percent of fraud offenders receiving probation only. According to the data source, most defendants receive prison time even after a plea deal.

Trials vs Plea Deals

Federal court criminal trials are quite rare, with fewer acquittals. For fraud, theft, and embezzlement cases, it is even rarer. Less than five percent of offenders went to trial, and the vast majority opted for plea deals.

However, according to the data, there is no way to know the results of those who decided to go to trial. Nevertheless, if offenders are convicted, there will surely be a major increase in the sentence. “Offenders who enter plea deals get a third of the overall sentence when compared to offenders who chose trial,” says attorney Rammy Barbari.

Conclusion

The average time for a sentence is between one to two years. However, this varies, and it is common for this sort of crime. Interestingly, offenders were usually white men between the ages of 41 and 50 who had some form of education, especially in accountancy and finance management.