> ## 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. # §2M5.2 Exportation of Arms, Munitions, or Military Equipment or Services Without Required Validated Export License: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2m5-2-exportation-of-arms-munitions-or-military-equipment-fy2017/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:25:52.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:25:52.000Z - Description: In fiscal year 2017, 104 of the 108 people sentenced under §2M5.2 (96%) pleaded guilty, and 4 were convicted after a trial. 99 people (92%) were sentenced to prison, with a median prison term of 27 months. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2M5.2 Exportation of Arms, Munitions, or Military Equipment](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2m5-2-exportation-of-arms-munitions-or-military-equipment/) › §2M5.2: FY2017 **In brief:** In fiscal year 2017, 104 of the 108 people sentenced under §2M5.2 (96%) pleaded guilty, and 4 were convicted after a trial. 99 people (92%) were sentenced to prison, with a median prison term of 27 months. 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 108 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017\. 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/). ## Guilty Pleas and Trials in Fiscal Year 2017 The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 108 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017 whose primary guideline was §2M5.2\. Of these, 104 (96%) pleaded guilty and 4 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 27 months. After a trial it was 69 months, based on 4 people sent to prison. With only 4 people, the trial figure cannot be treated as a general result. Among those who pleaded guilty, 83% had a written plea agreement and 16% were straight pleas with no agreement. ## What Is §2M5.2? The Guidelines Manual titles §2M5.2 "Exportation of Arms, Munitions, or Military Equipment or Services Without Required Validated Export License." The guideline is counted here only when it set the offense level for the most serious count in a case. The Commission classifies all 108 cases as National Defense. Fiscal year 2017 ran from October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017. ## Prison, Probation, and Supervised Release 99 of the 108 people (92%) received a prison term. 8 (7%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The median prison term among those sent to prison was 27 months (2.2 years). A quarter received 40 months or more, and a quarter received 12 months or less. The figures are terms imposed, not time served. Supervised release followed prison for 85 people (79%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 12 people (11%). Restitution was ordered for 0 (0%). A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 108 people. In the group, 86% were in the lowest criminal history category, category I, and 0% were in the highest, category VI. ## Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range 33 people (31%) were sentenced within the guideline range. 35 people (32%) were below the range at the government's request, and 40 people (37%) were below the range without a government request. No one was above the range. Sentences below the range without a government request were the most common of these groups. The records do not give the reasons in individual cases. ## Fiscal Year 2017 Next to Other Totals For fiscal years 2016 to 2025 combined, §2M5.2 covered 1,391 people. 90% were sent to prison, the median prison term was 27 months, 98% pleaded guilty, and 32% were sentenced within the range. The 2017 median prison term was the same as the all-years median. In fiscal year 2017 across every guideline, 66,873 people were sentenced. Their median prison term was 24 months, 97% pleaded guilty, and 49% were sentenced within the range. Within-range sentences were less common under §2M5.2 than in federal court as a whole. The previous year, 2016, had 100 people, a median prison term of 32 months, and 30% within the range. The next year, 2018, had 131 people, a median prison term of 30 months, and 27% within the range. The table lists all years. Single-year counts near 100 are small, so no trend should be read from them. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 100 | 32 months | 99% | | 2017 | 108 | 27 months | 96% | | 2018 | 131 | 30 months | 95% | | 2019 | 141 | 24 months | 99% | | 2020 | 119 | 28 months | 98% | | 2021 | 159 | 30 months | more than 99% | | 2022 | 118 | 25 months | 96% | | 2023 | 168 | 28 months | 99% | | 2024 | 178 | 24 months | more than 99% | | 2025 | 169 | 24 months | 99% | ## Limits of the Data The Commission's files include only people who were convicted and sentenced, so acquittals and dismissals do not appear. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so this post reports federal numbers on their own. The data does not describe the facts of a case or explain why a sentence was chosen. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2M5.2 (108), 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) - [§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/) (overview) - [§2M5.2 Exportation of Arms, Munitions, or Military Equipment or Services Without Required Validated Export License: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2m5-2-exportation-of-arms-munitions-or-military-equipment-fy2016/) (previous or next fiscal year) - [§2M5.2 Exportation of Arms, Munitions, or Military Equipment or Services Without Required Validated Export License: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2m5-2-exportation-of-arms-munitions-or-military-equipment-fy2018/) (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.