Incarceration or community placement: examining the sentences of cybercriminals

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to fill a gap in our understanding of correlates of whether a cybercrime conviction leads to prison or community corrections. Using data from the Internet Crime Complaint Center reports, the results show two important correlates. First, a cybercriminal that has a previous public order offense is likely to be sentenced to prison rather than community corrections. Second, a cybercriminal that has a previous violent offense conviction is likely to be sentenced to prison rather than community corrections. The implications of these results are discussed.

Keywords:

• cybercrime
• prison
• community corrections