> ## 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. # §2M3.3 Transmitting National Defense Information: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2m3-3-transmitting-national-defense-information/ - Published: 2026-11-03T01:40:17.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T01:40:17.000Z - Description: All 15 people sentenced under guideline §2M3.3 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term. The median prison term was 45 months (3.8 years). 14 of the 15 pleaded guilty, and every person was ordered to serve supervised release. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › §2M3.3 **In brief:** All 15 people sentenced under guideline §2M3.3 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term. The median prison term was 45 months (3.8 years). 14 of the 15 pleaded guilty, and every person was ordered to serve supervised release. Updated November 2, 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 15 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](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/). ## Prison for Everyone Sentenced The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 15 people whose primary guideline was §2M3.3\. All 15 (100%) received a prison term. None received probation only. The median prison term was 45 months. A quarter of the people received 64.5 months or more, and a quarter received 36 months or less. ## What the Title Covers The Sentencing Guidelines Manual gives §2M3.3 a long title: "Transmitting National Defense Information; Disclosure of Classified Cryptographic Information; Unauthorized Disclosure to a Foreign Government or a Communist Organization of Classified Information by Government Employee; Unauthorized Receipt of Classified Information." In plain terms, the title covers sending or disclosing national defense information and classified information, and receiving classified information without authority. The Commission files all 15 cases under the offense type National Defense. ## Guilty Pleas and the One Trial A total of 14 of 15 people (93%) pleaded guilty. One was convicted after a trial. Among those who pleaded guilty, 86% had a written plea agreement and 14% were straight pleas. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 43 months. The one trial case had a prison term of 87 months. A single case cannot show how trials compare with pleas. ## Sentences and the Guideline Range 6 sentences (40%) were within the guideline range. 3 (20%) were below the range at the government's request. 6 (40%) were below the range without a government request. None was above the range. No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any case. ## Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution Supervised release after prison was ordered for all 15 people (100%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 3 people (20%), and restitution for 2 (13%). In criminal history, 100% were in the lowest category I and 0% in the highest (VI). ## How the Years Compare Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 7 people and a median prison term of 48 months. Fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 8 people and a median of 41 months. The yearly medians vary widely, from 12 months in 2016 and 2017 to 78 months in 2019\. Each year has 1 to 3 people, so a single case can move a median. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 1 | 12 months | 1 of 1 | | 2017 | 1 | 12 months | 1 of 1 | | 2018 | 3 | 63 months | 3 of 3 | | 2019 | 2 | 78 months | 2 of 2 | | 2020 | 1 | 18 months | 1 of 1 | | 2021 | 2 | 71 months | 2 of 2 | | 2023 | 3 | 46 months | 2 of 3 | | 2025 | 2 | 36.5 months | 2 of 2 | ## Why the Numbers Are Small Only 15 people appear across fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. That is a small group, and a few cases can move every average and percentage. The 100% figures for prison, supervised release, and lowest criminal history category each mean 15 of 15 people. Because these are so few, the table is better read as a list of what happened than as a trend. ## What the Records Cannot Show Only people convicted and sentenced are counted, and prison terms are those imposed, not time served. The sheet does not say what any person did. The approved crosswalk lists no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so no military comparison appears here. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2M3.3 (15), 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](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) - [§2M5.2 Exportation of Arms, Munitions, or Military Equipment or Services Without Required Validated Export License: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2m5-2-exportation-of-arms-munitions-or-military-equipment/) (same guideline chapter part) - [§2M5.3 Providing Material Support or Resources to Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations or Specially Designated Global Terrorists, or For a Terrorist Purpose: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2m5-3-providing-material-support-or-resources-to-designated/) (same guideline chapter part) - [§2M5.1 Evasion of Export Controls: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2m5-1-evasion-of-export-controls/) (same guideline chapter part) - [§2M6.1 Unlawful Activity Involving Nuclear Material, Weapons, or Facilities, Biological Agents, Toxins, or Delivery Systems, Chemical Weapons, or Other Weapons of Mass Destruction: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2m6-1-unlawful-activity-involving-nuclear-material-weapons-or/) (same guideline chapter part) - [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.