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# Federal National Defense Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-national-defense-sentences-eastern-district-of-virginia/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:33:38.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:33:38.000Z
- Description: In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 68 people were sentenced in the Eastern District of Virginia for national defense offenses. The median prison term was 36.5 months for the 44 people (65%) sent to prison, compared with 24 months for all districts. Another 24 people (35%) received probation only.
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY201](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-virginia/) › National Defense Offense: Eastern District of Virginia

**In brief:** In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 68 people were sentenced in the Eastern District of Virginia for national defense offenses. The median prison term was 36.5 months for the 44 people (65%) sent to prison, compared with 24 months for all districts. Another 24 people (35%) received probation only.

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 68 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](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/).

## Prison Terms: Higher Than the National Median, Lower Than the District's All-Offense Median

The median prison term for national defense cases here was 36.5 months, or 3 years. A quarter of those sent to prison received 132 months or more, and a quarter received 18 months or less.

For this offense type in all 94 districts together, 84% were sent to prison and the median was 24 months. In this district, 65% were. For all offenses in the district, the median prison term was 46 months. The figures are terms imposed, not time served.

## A Wide Split Between Plea and Trial

Of the 68 people, 57 (84%) pleaded guilty and 11 were convicted after a trial. The share pleading guilty was lower than the 97% for all districts and the 96% for all offenses in this district.

The median prison term after a guilty plea was 35.5 months. After a trial it was 138 months, based on 10 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. That is a small group, and the records do not show how the cases differed in other ways.

## Which Guidelines Applied

"National Defense" is the Sentencing Commission's own offense category. The most common primary guideline was §2M5.3 (Providing Material Support or Resources to Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations or Specially Designated Global Terrorists, or For a Terrorist Purpose), with 16 people.

Next was §2M5.2 (Exportation of Arms, Munitions, or Military Equipment or Services Without Required Validated Export License) with 12\. Guidelines on national defense information followed: §2M3.1 (Gathering or Transmitting National Defense Information to Aid a Foreign Government) with 4, and §2M3.3 (Transmitting National Defense Information) with 3.

## Sentences and the Guideline Range

Of 67 people with the information recorded, 48% (32) were sentenced within the guideline range. Another 39% (26) were below the range without a government request, and 13% (9) were below it at the government's request. None was above the range.

The within-range share for all districts was 36%, and for all offenses in this district it was 60%. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 45 people with that information recorded (2%).

## Criminal History, Fines, and Supervised Release

In the lowest criminal history category were 66% of the people, and 25% were in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

Supervised release was ordered for 41 people (60%), with a median term of 36 months, and 1 person (1%) received supervised release for life. A fine was ordered for 27 (40%) and restitution for 2 (3%). Among guilty pleas, 56% had a written plea agreement and 35% were straight pleas.

## Small Yearly Counts

The district sentenced 36 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 32 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. The fiscal year runs from October 1 through the end of September. These cases were less than 1% of the 10,381 people sentenced in the district.

The table shows between 3 and 13 people in each year. Medians that range from 5.4 months in 2023 to 117 months in 2017 rest on very few people, so no single year shows a trend.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 9                | 71 months     | 9 of 9         |
| 2017        | 10               | 117 months    | 70%            |
| 2018        | 13               | 46 months     | 69%            |
| 2019        | 4                | 36 months     | 3 of 4         |
| 2020        | 7                | 24 months     | 7 of 7         |
| 2021        | 4                | 116.5 months  | 4 of 4         |
| 2022        | 6                | 8 months      | 5 of 6         |
| 2023        | 6                | 5.4 months    | 5 of 6         |
| 2024        | 3                | 24.1 months   | 3 of 3         |
| 2025        | 6                | 37 months     | 5 of 6         |

## What the Records Leave Out

Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, and the facts of each case are not shown.

Fort Lee, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Marine Corps Base Quantico, and Norfolk are in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal court, and no link between those installations and these federal cases is shown.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Virginia East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "National Defense" (68). 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.

**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)
- [Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-virginia/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-eastern-district-of-virginia/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-other-sentences-eastern-district-of-virginia/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-eastern-district-of-virginia/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Virginia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-eastern-district-of-virginia/) (same district, other offense type)
- [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.