> ## 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 2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2b1-5-theft-of-damage-to-or-destruction-of-fy2025/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:58:26.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:58:26.000Z - Description: In fiscal year 2025, 18 people were sentenced under §2B1.5. Of the 18, 11 (61%) received a prison term, with a median of 12 months. Sentences were split evenly across the positions against the guideline range: 6 within it, 6 below it at the government's request, and 6 below it without a request. - 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: FY2025 **In brief:** In fiscal year 2025, 18 people were sentenced under §2B1.5\. Of the 18, 11 (61%) received a prison term, with a median of 12 months. Sentences were split evenly across the positions against the guideline range: 6 within it, 6 below it at the government's request, and 6 below it without a request. 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 18 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025\. 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/). ## An Even Split Against the Guideline Range The 18 sentences divided into equal groups. In all, 6 (33%) were within the guideline range, 6 (33%) were below the range at the government's request, and 6 (33%) were below the range without a government request. None were above it. In all years of §2B1.5 from fiscal year 2016 to 2025, 31% of sentences were within the range. For all guidelines in fiscal year 2025, the figure was 51%. Fiscal year 2025 under §2B1.5 was therefore close to the all-years figure for this guideline and lower than the all-guidelines figure. ## Prison, Probation, and Supervised Release Of the 18 people, 11 (61%) received a prison term, and 6 (33%) received probation only. The median prison term was 12 months. A quarter received 17 months or more, and a quarter received 6 months or less. Supervised release after prison was ordered for 11 people (61%). The median supervised release term was 24 months. A fine was ordered for 2 people (11%). Restitution was ordered for 14 (78%). ## Guilty Pleas, Plea Agreements, and the One Trial In all, 17 of the 18 (94%) pleaded guilty, and 1 person was convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 10.5 months. The one person convicted at trial and sent to prison received 12 months, so no comparison between pleas and trials can be drawn from a single trial. Among the guilty pleas, 82% had a written plea agreement and 18% were straight pleas with no agreement. No mandatory minimum applied to any of the 18 people with that information recorded. ## Criminal History in This Group In the lowest criminal history category I were 72% of the group, and in the highest category VI were 6%. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so there is nothing to set beside this figure. ## What the Guideline Covers and How the Year Is Defined The Guidelines Manual titles §2B1.5 "Theft of, Damage to, or Destruction of, Cultural Heritage Resources; Unlawful Sale, Purchase, Exchange, Transportation or Receipt of Cultural Heritage Resources". A case counts when this was the primary guideline, meaning the one that set the offense level for the most serious count. All 18 cases fall under the Commission's Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement offense type. Fiscal year 2025 ran from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025\. Only people convicted and sentenced are in the data. ## Compared With Earlier Years In fiscal year 2024, 11 people were sentenced under this guideline, with a median prison term of 2.5 months and 18% of sentences within the range. The median in fiscal year 2025 was higher, and so was the share within the range. Across all years from 2016 to 2025, 122 people were sentenced, 46% were sent to prison, the median prison term was 11.8 months, and 93% pleaded guilty. For all guidelines in fiscal year 2025, 66,662 people were sentenced, the median prison term was 24 months, and 98% pleaded guilty. The table gives each year for §2B1.5. | 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 Cannot Be Read From These Numbers The records do not show the conduct in any case, so they cannot explain the even split or the length of any term. The crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so the federal numbers stand on their own. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2B1.5 (18), 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.