In the six years as a federal judge in the Southern District of New York, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor was more likely than her fellow judges to send a person to prison, especially if it was a white collar crime, a new study finds.

The study, released this morning by Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, analyzed 7,750 prosecutions handled by the 52 judges that served in the district from 1992 to 1998, when Sotomayor served there -- 261 of the prosecutions were handled by Sotomayor.

"By a range of different statistical measures, Judge Sotomayor was -- across the board -- a comparatively stiff sentencer, a judge who imposed prison time more often than was typical for her colleagues in the same district," TRAC reports.

Of the white collar criminals that went before Sotomayor, she sentenced 52 percent to some prison time -- nearly all of which were given six months or more. She handed out prison sentences of two years or more to 24 percent of all the white collar cases brought before her.

Comparatively, the other judges sentenced 43 percent to some prison time, with 34 percent getting six months or more, and just 12 percent receiving sentences of at least two years -- half that of Sotomayor.

Sotomayor was also tougher with drug convictions. Her fellow judges handed out sentences to 81 percent of those convicted, with 79 percent receiving at least six months in prison. By contrast, Sotomayor gave prison sentences more than 85 percent of the time -- and each received six months or more.

Following her tenure as a district court judge, Sotomayor was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, in New York, where she has served for the past decade. This study was released as the Senate Judiciary Committee prepares to hold hearings on Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court. The hearings begin Monday.