> ## 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. # §2M5.3 Providing Material Support or Resources to Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations or Specially Designated Global Terrorists, or For a Terrorist Purpose: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2m5-3-providing-material-support-or-resources-to-designated-fy2022/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:57:35.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:57:35.000Z - Description: In fiscal year 2022, 8 of the 19 people sentenced under §2M5.3 (42%) received a sentence within the guideline range, and 8 (42%) received one below the range at the government's request. All 19 went to prison, with a median term of 180 months (15 years). - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2M5.3 Providing Material Support or Resources to Designated](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2m5-3-providing-material-support-or-resources-to-designated/) › §2M5.3: FY2022 **In brief:** In fiscal year 2022, 8 of the 19 people sentenced under §2M5.3 (42%) received a sentence within the guideline range, and 8 (42%) received one below the range at the government's request. All 19 went to prison, with a median term of 180 months (15 years). 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 19 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/). ## Within the Range for 42% of the Group The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 19 people in fiscal year 2022 whose primary guideline was §2M5.3\. Of them, 8 (42%) were sentenced within the guideline range, 8 (42%) below the range at the government's request, and 3 (16%) below the range without a government request. None (0%) was above the range. The within-range share was 20% in fiscal year 2021 and 14% in fiscal year 2023\. The 2022 share is higher than both. For all guidelines in fiscal year 2022 it was 42%, the same as this guideline. Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the share under §2M5.3 was 22%. ## Prison Terms All 19 people (100%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 180 months (15 years). A quarter received 228 months or more, and a quarter received 51.9 months or less. The gap between the 51.9-month and 228-month marks is wide, so the median does not describe a typical term well. The terms are those imposed, not time served. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 19 people with that information recorded (5%). The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2022. ## Plea and Trial Results Pleaded guilty: 16 of 19 (84%). Convicted after a trial: 3\. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 156 months. After a trial it was 180 months, based on the 3 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. The trial median is higher than the plea median, but the trial group is only 3 people, so the comparison is weak. Among the guilty pleas, 100% had a written plea agreement. ## Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History All 19 people (100%) were ordered to serve supervised release. The median term was 120 months, and 5 (26%) received supervised release for life. No fine (0%) was ordered. Restitution was ordered for 1 person (5%). Category VI, the highest criminal history category, applied to 89% of the group, and category I, the lowest, to 11%. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. ## Comparison With Other Years In fiscal year 2021, 10 people were sentenced under §2M5.3, with a median prison term of 137 months. In fiscal year 2023, 21 people were sentenced, with a median of 144 months. The 2022 median is higher than both. For all fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 165 people were sentenced under this guideline, with a median of 144 months and more than 99% sent to prison. Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2022, under every guideline, totaled 64,142 people, with a median prison term of 30 months. Of them, 97% pleaded guilty, compared with 84% under this guideline. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so only federal numbers are given. | 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 2022 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2M5.3 (19), 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](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) - [§2M5.3 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/) (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 2021](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2m5-3-providing-material-support-or-resources-to-designated-fy2021/) (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 2023](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2m5-3-providing-material-support-or-resources-to-designated-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.