§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
In fiscal year 2023, 21 people were sentenced under §2M5.3, and every one received a prison term and supervised release. The median prison term was 144 months (12 years), which equals the median for the guideline across fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The plea and trial medians were about the same.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2M5.3 Providing Material Support or Resources to Designated › §2M5.3: FY2023
In brief: In fiscal year 2023, 21 people were sentenced under §2M5.3, and every one received a prison term and supervised release. The median prison term was 144 months (12 years), which equals the median for the guideline across fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The plea and trial medians were about the same.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 21 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023. 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.
Median of 144 Months, the Same as the 2016 to 2025 Median
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 21 people in fiscal year 2023 whose primary guideline was §2M5.3. All 21 (100%) received a prison term, and 0 (0%) received probation only. The median prison term was 144 months (12 years).
For all fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the median under this guideline was also 144 months, across 165 people. A quarter of the 2023 group received 208 months or more, and a quarter received 90 months or less.
Fiscal year 2023 ran from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023. The terms are those imposed, not time served.
Plea and Trial Terms Were Close
Of the 21 people, 18 (86%) pleaded guilty, and 3 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 142.5 months. After a trial it was 144 months, based on the 3 people convicted at trial and sent to prison.
These figures are about the same. The trial group is small, so this is a description of one year and not a rule about trials.
Among the guilty pleas, 89% had a written plea agreement, and 11% were straight pleas.
Position of the Sentences Against the Range
Within the guideline range were 3 sentences (14%). Below the range at the government's request were 6 (29%), and below the range without a government request were 12 (57%). None (0%) was above the range.
Without a government request was the most common position in this year. In the previous year, fiscal year 2022, 42% of sentences under §2M5.3 were within the range. For all guidelines in fiscal year 2023, the share was 42%.
Supervised Release
All 21 people (100%) were ordered to serve supervised release. The median term was 120 months, and 3 people (14%) received supervised release for life.
No fine (0%) and no restitution (0%) was ordered. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 21 people with that information recorded (5%).
Criminal History
Every person in the group (100%) was in criminal history category VI, the highest. None (0%) was in category I. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so the military side has no matching measure.
Neighboring Years and All Federal Cases
In fiscal year 2022, 19 people were sentenced under §2M5.3, with a median prison term of 180 months. The 2023 median is lower than that. The table lists every other year for comparison.
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2023, under every guideline, totaled 64,124 people, with a median prison term of 30 months and a guilty plea share of 97%.
The data covers only people who were convicted and sentenced. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so the post gives federal numbers on their own.
| 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 2023 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2M5.3 (21), 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 2022 (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.