This is a list of longest prison sentences ever given to a single person, worldwide. Listed are instances where people have been sentenced to jail terms in excess of a human lifetime, but effectively the same purpose. Note that many national legislations worldwide do not allow for such sentences.
Since the sentence given is not necessarily equivalent to time served, the list of longest prison sentences served for those who have spent the longest continuous time in prison.
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
Prisoners sentenced to more than one life imprisonment
Prisoners sentenced to one life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after a period that exceeds a natural human living possibilities Name Sentencestart Sentence term Country Description Incarceration Matthew Antonio Zakrzewski 2023 707 years and 8 months to life Molested 16 boys aged 2 to 14 in California.Sierra Conservation Center – Jamestown, California Tyrone Lavono Williams 2021 480 years to life Habitual sex offender in California who violated the terms by going near children and raping many of them.California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison – Corcoran, California Colin Ferguson 1995 315 years and 8 months to life Perpetrator of the 1993 Long Island Rail Road shooting in New York.Mid-State Correctional Facility – Marcy, New York Chauncey Price 2017 304 years to life Human trafficker convicted of Violation of the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act, trafficking a minor for sexual servitude, human trafficking for sexual servitude, attempt to commit pimping of a child, attempt to commit patronizing a prostituted child, pandering of a child, possession of a forged instrument, possession of a forged device, two counts of pimping, and three counts of forgery. According to Colorado Department of Corrections, he received two sentences of 96 years, one sentence of 64 years, and one sentence of 48 years and a life sentence.Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility – Ordway, Colorado Brendan O'Rourke 2012 189 years to life Sentenced for shooting at an elementary school in Carlsbad, California, injuring two second grade girls.California Institution for Men – Chino, California James Timothy McCarthy 182 years to lifeConvicted of numerous acts of child sexual abuse in California, including continuous sexual abuse of one child. Sentenced to 32 years in prison followed by 150 to life.Correctional Training Facility – Soledad, California Richard Allen Minsky 2001 146 years to life Used car salesman charged with over 80 counts including rape, assault, battery, extortion, grand theft, larceny, lewd and lascivious behavior, oral copulation, sexual assault, sexual battery, sodomy, and prison escape. Also committed scams in California, Florida (where he was arrested after being featured in America's Most Wanted), Georgia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.California Men's Colony – San Luis Obispo, California Donald Linville 2017 121 years to life Convicted of filming himself having sex with multiple females, including a 15-year-old, who didn't know they were being recorded.Arizona State Prison Complex – Florence, Arizona Demorris Hunter 2005 110 years to life A serial killer convicted of the 2002 murder of 41-year-old Ivora Denise Huntley in California.Salinas Valley State Prison – Soledad, California
Prisoners not sentenced to life imprisonment These sentences differ technically from sentences of life imprisonment in that the designated prison times have specific lengths, although in practice they serve the same purpose.
Prisoners sentenced to 10,000 years or more in prison Name Sentence start Sentence term Country Description Chamoy Thipyaso 1989 141,078 years World's longest sentence for corporate fraud according to Guinness World Records 2006. Also the longest, non-life, officially confirmed sentence ever handed in the world. She defrauded more than 16,000 Thais in a pyramid scheme worth $204 million at the time. However, the Thai law of the time specified that those convicted of fraud could not serve more than 20 years in prison and her mandatory release was 2009, she was paroled after only eight.Chungsiriwat, Grissarin (2013). Thailand At Random. Didier Millet. p. 83 Mehmet Aydın 2025 45,376 years, 6 monthsMehmet Aydın and his brother Fatih Aydın were sentenced for their roles in an online Ponzi scheme, they asked to be sentenced to 25,699 to 85,646 years in prison for victimizing 4,582 people by “Fraud through information systems” through Ponzi scheme game "Farm bank" or in the original name "Çiftlik bank".Fatih Aydın Othman El Gnaoui 2007 42,924 years Sentenced for their roles in the 2004 Madrid train bombings. Under Spanish law, the maximum sentence that any of them can serve is 40 years. The release date is scheduled for March 19, 2044, for El Gnaoui. Both Zougam and Trashorras will be released 17 days before El Gnaoui. Zougam will be 71 years old, El Gnaoui will be 69 years old, and Trashorras would be 67 years old. It is the longest non-life, officially confirmed sentence ever handed in the European Union. Jamal Zougam 42,922 years Emilio Suárez Trashorras 34,715 years Charles Scott Robinson 1994 30,000 years Longest prison term to a single American on multiple counts. Also the longest sentence ever handed in the United States. Robinson was sentenced to 5,000 years for each of the six counts against him for raping a 3-year-old girl in Oklahoma. Allan Wayne McLaurin 20,750 years Accomplice of Darron Bennalford Anderson. Upon appeal, his sentence was reduced by 500 years. Pudit Kittithradilok 2017 13,275 years Convicted of 2,653 counts of fraud. He admitted running a Ponzi scheme whereby he promised investors artificially high financial returns. About 40,000 people were persuaded to pour more than $160m (£120m) into his companies. Prosecutors told the court that Kittithradilok organised seminars where attendees were encouraged to invest in what he said were businesses linked to property development, beauty, used cars and exports, among other things. They recommended 5 years for each count and an additional 10 years. Totalling, 13,275 years. Due to his confession, his sentence was halved to 6,637 years and six months. Under Thailand law, a convicted fraudster cannot serve above 20 years. He will be released in 2037. Darron Bennalford Anderson 1994 11,750 years Greatest amount of prison time given as a result of an appeal. Found guilty of crimes ranging from rape of an elderly woman in Tulsa County, Oklahoma, to larceny, robbery and kidnapping, and sentenced to 2,250 years. He appealed, was reconvicted, re-sentenced and received an additional prison term of 9,500 years, later reduced by 500 years.Faruk Fatih Özer 2023 11,196 years Faruk Fatih Özer was a cryptocurrency trader convicted of fraud, and the owner of Thodex. Güven and Serap Özer are the brother and sister, respectively, of Faruk Fatih Özer, as well as his employees, and were convicted of crimes including fraud associated with the company's collapse. Faruk Fatih Özer was found dead in prison on 1 November 2025.Güven Özer Serap Özer
Prisoners sentenced to between 1,000 and 9,999 years in prison