> ## 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. # §2B5.3 Criminal Infringement of Copyright or Trademark: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2b5-3-criminal-infringement-of-copyright-or-trademark-fy2022/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:28:27.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:28:27.000Z - Description: Fiscal year 2022 had 24 people sentenced under §2B5.3, with a median prison term of 4 months. That is the lowest yearly median in the table for this guideline. 15 people (63%) received a prison term, and all 24 pleaded guilty. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2B5.3 Criminal Infringement of Copyright or Trademark](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2b5-3-criminal-infringement-of-copyright-or-trademark/) › §2B5.3: FY2022 **In brief:** Fiscal year 2022 had 24 people sentenced under §2B5.3, with a median prison term of 4 months. That is the lowest yearly median in the table for this guideline. 15 people (63%) received a prison term, and all 24 pleaded guilty. 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 24 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2022\. 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/). ## A Median Prison Term of 4 Months The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 24 people in fiscal year 2022 whose primary guideline was §2B5.3\. In the Guidelines Manual, §2B5.3 is titled "Criminal Infringement of Copyright or Trademark." 15 of the 24 (63%) were sentenced to prison, and 7 (29%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The median prison term among those sent to prison was 4 months. A quarter received 15.2 months or more, and a quarter received 0 months or less. The 4-month median was lower than the all-years median for this guideline, 12 months. It was also lower than the 30-month median for every guideline combined in fiscal year 2022\. With 15 people sent to prison, a few sentences can move the median. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 84 | 16 months | 99% | | 2017 | 82 | 17 months | 94% | | 2018 | 70 | 12 months | 99% | | 2019 | 47 | 12 months | 100% | | 2020 | 37 | 10 months | 100% | | 2021 | 36 | 12 months | 100% | | 2022 | 24 | 4 months | 100% | | 2023 | 44 | 24 months | 89% | | 2024 | 35 | 12 months | 100% | | 2025 | 40 | 12 months | 85% | ## Guideline Range Positions The Commission recorded this information for all 24 people. 13% (3 people) were sentenced within the range. 42% (10) were below the range at the government's request, and 46% (11) were below it without a government request. None were above the range. Across all years, 19% of sentences under §2B5.3 were within the range. For all guidelines in fiscal year 2022, the share was 42%. ## Pleas and Plea Agreements All 24 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial. 83% of the guilty pleas had a written plea agreement, and 17% were straight pleas with no agreement. The data includes only people who were convicted and sentenced. It leaves out acquittals and dismissals. ## Supervised Release, Money Orders, and Criminal History 11 people (46%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 24 months. A fine was ordered for 6 (25%), and restitution for 12 (50%). No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 24 (0%). 83% of the group were in criminal history category I, the lowest. None (0%) were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. ## Neighboring Years and the Federal System Fiscal year 2021 had 36 people under this guideline, a median prison term of 12 months, and 19% within the range. Fiscal year 2023 had 44 people, a median prison term of 24 months, and 23% within the range. Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 499 people were sentenced under §2B5.3\. 58% went to prison, and 96% pleaded guilty. In fiscal year 2022, 64,142 people were sentenced in federal court under all guidelines, and 97% of them pleaded guilty. The Commission's offense type for the 24 cases here is Forgery/Counter/Copyright. ## What Cannot Be Concluded Fiscal year 2022 ran from October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2022\. A group of 24 is small, and a single year is not a trend. The prison terms are those imposed, not time served. No close court-martial counterpart for this guideline is in the approved crosswalk, so these are federal numbers alone. The records do not say why a court chose any sentence. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2022 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2B5.3 (24), 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) - [§2B5.3 Criminal Infringement of Copyright or Trademark: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2b5-3-criminal-infringement-of-copyright-or-trademark/) (overview) - [§2B5.3 Criminal Infringement of Copyright or Trademark: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2b5-3-criminal-infringement-of-copyright-or-trademark-fy2021/) (previous or next fiscal year) - [§2B5.3 Criminal Infringement of Copyright or Trademark: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2b5-3-criminal-infringement-of-copyright-or-trademark-fy2023/) (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.