§2M5.1 Evasion of Export Controls: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016
In fiscal year 2016, 11 people were sentenced in federal court with §2M5.1 as the primary guideline, the smallest yearly count in the 2016 to 2025 series. Of the 11, 9 (82%) received prison, and the median prison term was 14 months. All 11 pleaded guilty.
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In brief: In fiscal year 2016, 11 people were sentenced in federal court with §2M5.1 as the primary guideline, the smallest yearly count in the 2016 to 2025 series. Of the 11, 9 (82%) received prison, and the median prison term was 14 months. All 11 pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 11 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016. 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.
Who Was Sentenced Under §2M5.1 in Fiscal Year 2016
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 11 people in fiscal year 2016 whose primary guideline was §2M5.1. The Guidelines Manual titles it "Evasion of Export Controls; Financial Transactions with Countries Supporting International Terrorism." The Commission classes these cases under the offense type National Defense.
Fiscal year 2016 ran from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016. The count of 11 is small, so the numbers below describe one year and should not be read as a trend.
The primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count. The data includes only people who were convicted and sentenced.
Prison Terms and Probation
Of the 11 people, 9 (82%) received a prison term. The other 2 (18%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 14 months. A quarter received 27 months or more, and a quarter received 9.3 months or less. These are the terms imposed, not time served.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 11 people with that information recorded (0%).
Sentences Mostly Fell Below the Guideline Range
Of the 11 sentences, 1 (9%) was within the guideline range. 7 (64%) were below the range at the government's request, and 2 (18%) were below the range without a government request. One sentence (9%) was above the range.
For everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016, under all guidelines, 49% of sentences were within the range. The §2M5.1 share of 9% is lower.
The data records that the government asked for a lower sentence in these cases. It does not record the reasons.
Guilty Pleas and Plea Agreements
All 11 (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 91% had a written plea agreement, and 9% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Because acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, it cannot show how many people charged in this area were not convicted.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History
After prison, 5 people (45%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 3 (27%). No restitution was ordered (0%).
The lowest criminal history category (category I) held 91% of the group, and 0% were in the highest (VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Fiscal Year 2016 Compared With the Rest of the Decade
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 162 people were sentenced under §2M5.1. Of them, 84% were sent to prison, the median prison term was 18.3 months, and 98% pleaded guilty. The 2016 median of 14 months is lower than that 18.3 months.
In fiscal year 2017, 19 people were sentenced under the guideline, with a median prison term of 16.5 months. All 67,742 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016 had a median prison term of 24 months.
The crosswalk used for this site has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so the post reports the federal numbers on their own.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 11 | 14 months | 100% |
| 2017 | 19 | 16.5 months | 95% |
| 2018 | 17 | 24 months | 100% |
| 2019 | 14 | 22.4 months | 100% |
| 2020 | 16 | 18.7 months | 100% |
| 2021 | 22 | 12.9 months | 95% |
| 2022 | 17 | 15 months | 100% |
| 2023 | 14 | 21 months | 100% |
| 2024 | 14 | 18 months | 93% |
| 2025 | 18 | 24 months | 100% |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2M5.1 (11), 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 (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- §2M5.1 Evasion of Export Controls: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2M5.1 Evasion of Export Controls: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017 (previous or next fiscal year)
- How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range
- Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress
- 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.