> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # §2B1.5 Theft of, Damage to, or Destruction of, Cultural Heritage Resources: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2b1-5-theft-of-damage-to-or-destruction-of-fy2023/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:58:24.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:58:24.000Z - Description: In fiscal year 2023, 12 people were sentenced in federal court under §2B1.5, the guideline for crimes involving cultural heritage resources. Of the 12, 7 (58%) received probation only and 4 (33%) were sent to prison, with a median prison term of 6 months. The count is small, so the numbers describe - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2B1.5 Theft of, Damage to, or Destruction of, Cultural Heri](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2b1-5-theft-of-damage-to-or-destruction-of/) › §2B1.5: FY2023 **In brief:** In fiscal year 2023, 12 people were sentenced in federal court under §2B1.5, the guideline for crimes involving cultural heritage resources. Of the 12, 7 (58%) received probation only and 4 (33%) were sent to prison, with a median prison term of 6 months. The count is small, so the numbers describe this one year and do not show a trend. Updated November 4, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025 This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 12 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023\. 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/). ## Probation Was the Most Common Sentence Of the 12 people sentenced under §2B1.5 in fiscal year 2023, 7 received probation only. That means no prison and no other confinement. In all, 4 people (33%) received a prison term. Among the 4 sent to prison, the median prison term was 6 months. A quarter of them received 9 months or more, and a quarter received 3 months or less. With only 4 people in the group, a single sentence can move these figures a long way. The prison terms counted here are the terms imposed by the court. They are not the time actually served. ## What §2B1.5 Covers and What Was Counted The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles this guideline "Theft of, Damage to, or Destruction of, Cultural Heritage Resources; Unlawful Sale, Purchase, Exchange, Transportation or Receipt of Cultural Heritage Resources". The post counts everyone sentenced in fiscal year 2023 whose primary guideline was §2B1.5\. The primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count. The U.S. Sentencing Commission places all 12 of these cases in its Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement offense type. Federal fiscal year 2023 ran from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023. The Commission's data includes only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it. ## Guilty Pleas and Plea Agreements In all, 11 of the 12 (92%) pleaded guilty. One person was convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 100% had a written plea agreement. None were straight pleas without an agreement. No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 12 people with that information recorded. ## Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range In all, 6 of the 12 sentences (50%) were within the guideline range. A further 5 (42%) were below the range at the government's request. One (8%) was below the range without a government request. None were above the range. In the same year, 4 people (33%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, and the median supervised release term was 12 months. ## Fines, Restitution, and Criminal History A fine was ordered for 3 people (25%). Restitution was ordered for 11 (92%). All 12 were in the lowest criminal history category I, and none were in the highest category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so this measure has no military counterpart. ## How Fiscal Year 2023 Fits With Other Years and Other Guidelines Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 122 people were sentenced under §2B1.5\. Of those, 46% were sent to prison, the median prison term was 11.8 months, 93% pleaded guilty, and 31% received a sentence within the guideline range. Fiscal year 2023 had a lower median prison term and a higher share of sentences within the range than the all-years figures. For all guidelines combined in fiscal year 2023, 64,124 people were sentenced. The median prison term was 30 months, 97% pleaded guilty, and 42% received a sentence within the range. In fiscal year 2024, 11 people were sentenced under §2B1.5, with a median prison term of 2.5 months and 18% of sentences within the range. The table shows every 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% | ## What These Records Cannot Show The records do not describe the facts of any case, so they cannot show what kind of cultural heritage resource was involved. They also cannot show why one person received probation and another received prison. There is no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline in the crosswalk used for this project, so this post reports the federal numbers on their own. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2B1.5 (12), 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article) - [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts) - [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method) - [§2B1.5 Theft of, Damage to, or Destruction of, Cultural Heritage Resources: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2b1-5-theft-of-damage-to-or-destruction-of/) (overview) - [§2B1.5 Theft of, Damage to, or Destruction of, Cultural Heritage Resources: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2b1-5-theft-of-damage-to-or-destruction-of-fy2024/) (previous or next fiscal year) - [How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-sentences-outside-guideline-range/) - [Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-mandatory-minimum-sentences/) - [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source) - [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.