Sponsors (4)
The bill strengthens penalties and gives prosecutors clearer sentencing tools to deter major fraud, but does so by imposing mandatory minimums that reduce judicial discretion, increase incarceration and taxpayer costs, and risk unfairly punishing lower‑level participants.
Taxpayers and middle-class families who are victims of large-scale fraud will see stronger deterrence because perpetrators face higher penalties when schemes cause $1M+ or $5M+ in losses.
Federal prosecutors (Department of Justice) gain a clearer sentencing tool to pursue major fraud cases, potentially improving enforcement consistency across jurisdictions.
People convicted of the covered frauds (defendants) will face mandatory prison terms that remove judicial discretion, increasing incarceration even in cases with mitigating circumstances.
Lower-level participants in complex schemes, including middle- and low-income individuals who meet monetary thresholds, risk disproportionately harsh mandatory minimums, raising fairness and civil‑liberties concerns.
Taxpayers may face higher costs from an increased federal prison population and related corrections spending driven by longer mandatory sentences.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Imposes loss-based mandatory minimum prison terms (1 year for $1M–<$5M; 5 years for ≥$5M) for specified false-statement and mail/wire fraud offenses.
Official title: To establish mandatory minimum terms of imprisonment for fraud offenses, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 21, 2026 by Ken Calvert · Last progress May 21, 2026
Creates two new mandatory-minimum sentencing rules that increase prison terms for a set of fraud, false-statement, mail and wire fraud offenses when the loss amount meets specified thresholds. Offenses with losses of $1,000,000–$4,999,999 would carry a minimum sentence of 1 year; offenses with losses of $5,000,000 or more would carry a minimum sentence of 5 years, with statutory maximums and fines retained. Applies these monetary-loss-triggered minimums to listed false-statement statutes (e.g., 1001-series, certain financial false statements, health-care fraud statutes identified) and to specified fraud statutes under the mail, wire, and related fraud provisions; also makes clerical table-of-sections insertions for the new provisions.