§2B1.5 Theft of, Damage to, or Destruction of, Cultural Heritage Resources: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017
In fiscal year 2017, 17 people were sentenced under §2B1.5. 8 (47%) received prison and 8 (47%) received probation only. The median prison term was 8.8 months, and 15 of the 17 people (88%) were ordered to pay restitution.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2B1.5 Theft of, Damage to, or Destruction of, Cultural Heri › §2B1.5: FY2017
In brief: In fiscal year 2017, 17 people were sentenced under §2B1.5. 8 (47%) received prison and 8 (47%) received probation only. The median prison term was 8.8 months, and 15 of the 17 people (88%) were ordered to pay restitution.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 17 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017. Acquittals and dismissals come from a second source, the Federal Judicial Center's records of 753,808 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. It is part of the Federal Prosecution Analysis series, which builds on Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System. How the numbers were built: How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built.
Prison and Probation Were Equally Common in 2017
Of the 17 people sentenced in fiscal year 2017 with §2B1.5 as the primary guideline, 8 (47%) received a prison term and 8 (47%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The records here do not describe the last person.
The median prison term among those sent to prison was 8.8 months. A quarter received 14 months or more, and a quarter received 4.5 months or less. 7 people (41%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 12 months.
Restitution Was the Most Common Money Order
Restitution was ordered for 15 of the 17 people (88%), and a fine was ordered for 4 (24%). The restitution share was much larger than the fine share.
One Trial Conviction
16 of the 17 people (94%) pleaded guilty, and 1 was convicted after a trial. Every guilty plea had a written plea agreement.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 6 months. The person convicted after a trial received 36 months. Because that is 1 person, it does not show how trial sentences generally compare with plea sentences.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 17 people. Acquittals and dismissals are outside the Commission's counts.
Guideline Range and Criminal History
4 of the 17 sentences (24%) were within the guideline range. 4 (24%) were below it at the government's request, and 9 (53%) were below it without a government request. None was above the range.
In fiscal year 2016, 43% of sentences were within the range, and for all years from 2016 to 2025 the figure was 31%. In criminal history, 59% of the people were in the lowest category, category I, and 6% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Fiscal Year 2017 Among All Federal Cases
Fiscal year 2017 ran from October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017. For all guidelines in that year, 66,873 people were sentenced. The median prison term was 24 months, 97% pleaded guilty, and 49% of sentences were within the range.
From fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 122 people were sentenced under §2B1.5. 46% were sent to prison, the median prison term was 11.8 months, and 93% pleaded guilty. The 2017 median was lower than 11.8 months. In fiscal year 2016, the median was 6 months for 21 people.
The table gives the count, median, and plea share for each year.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 21 | 6 months | 100% |
| 2017 | 17 | 8.8 months | 94% |
| 2018 | 9 | 15 months | 8 of 9 |
| 2019 | 12 | 24 months | 92% |
| 2020 | 8 | 12 months | 7 of 8 |
| 2021 | 7 | 18 months | 6 of 7 |
| 2022 | 7 | 11.6 months | 7 of 7 |
| 2023 | 12 | 6 months | 92% |
| 2024 | 11 | 2.5 months | 82% |
| 2025 | 18 | 12 months | 94% |
Where These Records Stop
The Manual title of §2B1.5 is "Theft of, Damage to, or Destruction of, Cultural Heritage Resources," and the Commission lists it in the Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement offense type. The records do not describe any case. A group of 17 is small, so one year is not a trend.
The crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart, so only federal figures are given.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2B1.5 (17), U.S. Sentencing Commission individual data files. The primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count.
Federal fiscal years run from October 1 to September 30. No person, judge, or lawyer is identified in any of these records.
What to Keep in Mind
No parole in federal prison; credit for good conduct. Federal prison has no parole for crimes committed on or after November 1, 1987. A federal prisoner can earn up to 54 days of good conduct credit for each year of the sentence the judge imposed, which is about 15%. Some federal prisoners can also earn First Step Act time credits, but many offenses make a person ineligible. The numbers in this post are the sentences judges imposed, not the time people actually served.
Federal supervised release. Most federal prison sentences are followed by a term of supervised release that the judge sets as part of the sentence. A person who violates it can be sent back to prison. A court-martial cannot sentence anyone to supervision after release. Military parole and mandatory supervised release are decided later by a board, not by the judge at trial.
Who decides the sentence, and under what rules. Federal judges sentence every federal case. They must calculate the Sentencing Guidelines range, which is advisory, and must impose any mandatory minimum the statute requires unless an exception applies. In courts-martial, the accused could choose sentencing by members until the rules changed. For cases in which every guilty finding is for an offense committed after December 27, 2023, a military judge sentences alone, within sentencing parameters. Courts-martial tried in 2024 and later include both old-rule and new-rule cases, and the data cannot tell them apart.
Time periods. Federal numbers are by federal fiscal year (October 1 to September 30), based on the sentencing date. The military numbers are by trial date. Neither source has the date of the offense, so a change in law shows up in either data set gradually.
How life sentences and "time served" are counted. In the federal numbers, a life sentence is counted as 470 months, and any other sentence longer than 470 months is counted as just under 470 months. A sentence of "time served" is counted as one day (0.03 months). Averages are affected by these rules; medians much less.
Related Analysis
- Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- §2B1.5 Theft of, Damage to, or Destruction of, Cultural Heritage Resources: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2B1.5 Theft of, Damage to, or Destruction of, Cultural Heritage Resources: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016 (previous or next fiscal year)
- How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range
- Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress
- U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles (source)
- Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants) (source)
About the author. Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts Where All The Bodies Are Buried and runs the Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.