§2B1.5 Theft of, Damage to, or Destruction of, Cultural Heritage Resources: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025
In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 122 people were sentenced under §2B1.5, the guideline for theft of, damage to, or destruction of cultural heritage resources. Prison and probation only each applied to 56 people (46%). The median prison term was 11.8 months.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2B1.5
In brief: In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 122 people were sentenced under §2B1.5, the guideline for theft of, damage to, or destruction of cultural heritage resources. Prison and probation only each applied to 56 people (46%). The median prison term was 11.8 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 122 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 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 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.
Sentences Under the Cultural Heritage Resources Guideline
Guideline §2B1.5 is titled "Theft of, Damage to, or Destruction of, Cultural Heritage Resources; Unlawful Sale, Purchase, Exchange, Transportation or Receipt of Cultural Heritage Resources." Going by the title, it covers taking, damaging, or destroying such resources, and also selling, buying, exchanging, moving, or receiving them unlawfully.
The Sentencing Commission counted 122 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose primary guideline was §2B1.5. The Commission lists all 122 under the offense type Fraud/Theft/Embezzlement.
Prison, Probation, and Prison Length
The split was even: 56 people (46%) received a prison term, and 56 (46%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
For those sent to prison, the median prison term was 11.8 months. A quarter received 18 months or more, and a quarter received 3.8 months or less. The terms are the ones imposed, not time served.
Restitution Was Ordered Often
Restitution was ordered for 95 of the 122 people (78%), which is far more often than a fine. A fine was ordered for 22 (18%).
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 53 people (43%), and the median term was 12 months. No mandatory minimum prison term applied to anyone: 0 (0%).
Pleas and the Few Trials
A guilty plea was entered by 113 of the 122 (93%), and 9 people were convicted after a trial. Among guilty pleas, 96% had a written plea agreement and 4% were straight pleas.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 9 months. After a trial it was 24 months, based on 7 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. The trial group is small, so the gap should be read with care.
Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range
Only 38 sentences (31%) were within the guideline range. Another 45 (37%) were below the range at the government's request, and 38 (31%) were below it without a government request. One sentence, less than 1%, was above the range.
So most sentences were below the range. The records show where sentences fell but not the reasons behind them.
Criminal History and Changes by Year
In criminal history, 64% were in the lowest category I and 6% were in the highest (VI).
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 59 people and a median prison term of 12 months. Fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 63 people and a median of 9 months. Single-year medians range widely in the table, from 2.5 months in 2024 to 24 months in 2019, with only 7 to 21 people in 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% |
Limits of the Records
Only people who were convicted and sentenced appear in the data. Acquittals and dismissals do not. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, and court-martial records have no criminal history field.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2B1.5 (122), from the U.S. Sentencing Commission's 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)
- §2B3.1 Robbery: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2B5.1 Offenses Involving Counterfeit Bearer Obligations of the United States: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2B4.1 Bribery in Procurement of Bank Loan and Other Commercial Bribery: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2B5.3 Criminal Infringement of Copyright or Trademark: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2B2.1 Burglary of a Residence or a Structure Other than a Residence: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- 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.