Federal National Defense Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025
In the Eastern District of North Carolina, 11 people were sentenced for national defense offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 5 (45%) received a prison term, with a median of 70 months (5.8 years), and 6 (55%) received probation only. For all 94 federal districts, the median was 24 months.
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In brief: In the Eastern District of North Carolina, 11 people were sentenced for national defense offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 5 (45%) received a prison term, with a median of 70 months (5.8 years), and 6 (55%) received probation only. For all 94 federal districts, the median was 24 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 11 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 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.
Export Violations Led This Group
National Defense is one of the offense types that the U.S. Sentencing Commission assigns by each case's primary guideline.
Here, 6 people were sentenced under §2M5.2 (Exportation of Arms, Munitions, or Military Equipment or Services Without Required Validated Export License). 2 were sentenced under §2M5.1 (Evasion of Export Controls). 1 was sentenced under §2M5.3 (Providing Material Support or Resources to Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations or Specially Designated Global Terrorists, or For a Terrorist Purpose).
Prison Terms for 5 of the 11 People
5 of the 11 people (45%) were sent to prison, and 6 (55%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. Across all districts, 84% of the 2,236 people in this offense type were sent to prison.
Among the 5 sent to prison, a quarter received 84 months or more, and a quarter received 63 months or less. For all offenses in this district, the median prison term was 60 months, so the median here was higher. The national median for this offense type was lower than both.
Pleas and Trials in a Very Small Group
9 of the 11 people (82%) pleaded guilty, and 2 were convicted after a trial. For all districts, 97% pleaded guilty.
After a guilty plea, the median prison term was 84 months. After a trial it was 66.5 months, based on 2 people. These medians rest on very few people, so the comparison between them is weak. Among the 9 guilty pleas, 7 had a written plea agreement and 1 was a straight plea.
Guideline Range and Mandatory Minimums
The range was recorded for 10 people. 30% (3) were within it, 40% (4) were below it at the government's request, and 30% (3) were below it without a government request. None were above it.
For all districts, 36% of sentences in this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in this district, 56% were. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 10 people with that information recorded (0%).
Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 5 people (45%), with a median term of 36 months. 1 person (9%) received supervised release for life.
A fine was ordered for 3 (27%) and restitution for 2 (18%). In criminal history, 70% were in category I, the lowest, and 10% in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Years With Cases
These 11 cases were less than 1% of the 7,801 people sentenced in the district. Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 5 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 6.
No year had more than 2 people. Several years show no median, so no trend can be read from the table.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2 | 87 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2017 | 1 | 9 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2019 | 2 | 84 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2020 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2021 | 1 | 63 months | 0 of 1 |
| 2022 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2023 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2025 | 2 | 70 months | 1 of 2 |
What Is Not in the Records
Only people convicted and sentenced are counted, so acquittals and dismissals are absent. Prison terms are those imposed, not time served.
Camp Lejeune, Fort Bragg, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, and Seymour Johnson AFB are in the district. They try courts-martial in military courts, and these federal figures say nothing about those cases.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of North Carolina (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "N Carolina East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "National Defense" (11). Offense types are the Commission's OFFGUIDE categories.
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)
- Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- 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.