§2M5.3 Providing Material Support or Resources to Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations or Specially Designated Global Terrorists, or For a Terrorist Purpose: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018
Fiscal year 2018 had 28 people sentenced under §2M5.3, the largest count in the 2016 to 2025 series, and all 28 received a prison term. The median prison term was 180 months (15 years), the same after a guilty plea as after a trial. Supervised release for life was ordered for 11 people (39%).
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2M5.3 Providing Material Support or Resources to Designated › §2M5.3: FY2018
In brief: Fiscal year 2018 had 28 people sentenced under §2M5.3, the largest count in the 2016 to 2025 series, and all 28 received a prison term. The median prison term was 180 months (15 years), the same after a guilty plea as after a trial. Supervised release for life was ordered for 11 people (39%).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 28 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2018. 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.
The Largest Yearly Group in the Series
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 28 people in fiscal year 2018 whose primary guideline was §2M5.3. The Guidelines Manual titles it "Providing Material Support or Resources to Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations or Specially Designated Global Terrorists, or For a Terrorist Purpose." The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018.
All 28 (100%) received a prison term, and 0 (0%) received probation only. The median prison term was 180 months (15 years). A quarter received 196.5 months or more, and a quarter received 114 months or less.
Plea and Trial Medians Were Equal
Of the 28 people, 23 (82%) pleaded guilty, and 5 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 180 months after a guilty plea and 180 months after a trial, based on the 5 people convicted at trial and sent to prison.
The medians match here. With only 5 people at trial, that match is a fact about this group and not a rule.
All guilty pleas (100%) had a written plea agreement, and 0% were straight pleas.
Supervised Release for Life
Supervised release followed prison for 25 people (89%), with a median term of 120 months. Of those, 11 people (39%) were given supervised release for life.
A fine was ordered for 0 people (0%), and restitution for 1 (4%).
Mandatory Minimums and Where Sentences Fell
For 2 of the 28 people with that information recorded (7%), a mandatory minimum prison term applied.
Within the guideline range were 6 sentences (21%). Below the range at the government's request were 11 (39%), and below the range without a government request were 10 (36%). One sentence (4%) was above the range. Across every guideline in that fiscal year, the within-range share was 51%.
Criminal History
Criminal history was category VI, the highest, for 89% of the group. For 11% it was category I, the lowest. A court-martial record does not have this field.
Context From Other Years and All Federal Cases
For fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 165 people were sentenced under §2M5.3. More than 99% were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 144 months. The 2018 median is higher than that. The table below shows the count of 28 people for 2018 beside the counts for every other year, along with the median prison term and the guilty plea share for each.
In fiscal year 2017, 21 people were sentenced, with a median of 120 months. In fiscal year 2019, 17 people were sentenced, with a median of 180 months. For everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2018, the median prison term was 24 months, across 69,425 people.
Only people who were convicted and sentenced appear in this data, and the prison terms are the ones imposed. No close court-martial counterpart is listed for this guideline, so no military comparison is made.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 18 | 210 months | 83% |
| 2017 | 21 | 120 months | 81% |
| 2018 | 28 | 180 months | 82% |
| 2019 | 17 | 180 months | 82% |
| 2020 | 11 | 180 months | 82% |
| 2021 | 10 | 137 months | 70% |
| 2022 | 19 | 180 months | 84% |
| 2023 | 21 | 144 months | 86% |
| 2024 | 9 | 120 months | 8 of 9 |
| 2025 | 11 | 101 months | 82% |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2018 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2M5.3 (28), 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.
Mandatory minimum sentences. Many federal statutes on drugs, images of child exploitation, child sex abuse, and firearms carry mandatory minimum prison terms. The UCMJ has mandatory minimums only for a few offenses (a dishonorable discharge or dismissal for rape and sexual assault, and life for premeditated murder). Federal sentences for these offenses are partly set by Congress, not by the judge.
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)
- §2M5.3 Providing Material Support or Resources to Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations or Specially Designated Global Terrorists, or For a Terrorist Purpose: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2M5.3 Providing Material Support or Resources to Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations or Specially Designated Global Terrorists, or For a Terrorist Purpose: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2M5.3 Providing Material Support or Resources to Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations or Specially Designated Global Terrorists, or For a Terrorist Purpose: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019 (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.