Federal National Defense Offense Sentences in the Northern District of California, FY2016–2025
All 18 people sentenced for national defense offenses in the Northern District of California in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 pleaded guilty, and 17 (94%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 18 months, compared with 24 months for this offense type in all 94 federal districts. Of the 18 se
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Northern District of California, FY › National Defense Offense: Northern District of California
In brief: All 18 people sentenced for national defense offenses in the Northern District of California in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 pleaded guilty, and 17 (94%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 18 months, compared with 24 months for this offense type in all 94 federal districts. Of the 18 sentences, 9 were below the guideline range at the government's request.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 18 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.
Every Case Ended in a Guilty Plea
All 18 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none was convicted after a trial. Among guilty pleas, 94% had a written plea agreement and 6% were straight pleas with no agreement.
In all 94 districts, 2,236 people were sentenced for national defense offenses, and 97% pleaded guilty. The district's plea rate was therefore 100%, against 97% nationally, with only 18 people in the district group.
Prison Terms in This District and Nationwide
Of the 18 people, 17 (94%) received a prison term. No one received probation only.
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 18 months. A quarter received 30 months or more, and a quarter received 12 months or less.
Nationally, 84% were sent to prison and the median prison term was 24 months. The district had a higher share sent to prison and a lower median.
What the Offense Type Includes
"National Defense" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type for crimes such as export violations and support for terrorism. The type is assigned from each case's primary guideline.
In this district, 7 people were sentenced under §2M5.2 (Exportation of Arms, Munitions, or Military Equipment or Services Without Required Validated Export License). Another 6 were sentenced under §2M5.1 (Evasion of Export Controls).
Guideline §2M6.1 (Unlawful Activity Involving Nuclear Material, Weapons, or Facilities, Biological Agents, Toxins, or Delivery Systems, Chemical Weapons, or Other Weapons of Mass Destruction) and §2M5.3 (Providing Material Support or Resources to Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations or Specially Designated Global Terrorists, or For a Terrorist Purpose) each had 2 people.
Relation to the Guideline Range
The guideline range is the sentencing range the guidelines produce for a case. Within that range were 17% (3) of the 18 sentences.
A sentence below the range at the government's request was given to 50% (9), and below the range without a government request to 33% (6). None was above the range.
Nationally, 36% of sentences in this category were within the range. For all offenses in the district, the figure was 24%.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Mandatory Minimums
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 16 people (89%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 7 (39%), and restitution for 3 (17%).
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 18 people (6%). On criminal history, 88% were in the lowest category, category I, and 12% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Small Yearly Counts
The fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30. The records show 8 people sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 10 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025.
Each year has 1 to 3 people. The yearly medians range from 4 months in 2025 to 71 months in 2019, and the 2022 median is marked n/a. At these counts, a yearly median is not a trend.
These cases were less than 1% of the 4,531 people sentenced in the district. The records do not include acquittals or dismissals, and they cannot show the facts of any case.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2 | 22.5 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2017 | 1 | 60 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2018 | 2 | 22 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2019 | 3 | 71 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2020 | 2 | 31.6 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2021 | 2 | 13 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2022 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2023 | 1 | 20 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2024 | 3 | 6 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2025 | 1 | 4 months | 1 of 1 |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of California (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "California North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "National Defense" (18). 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 (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- Federal Sentences in the Northern District of California, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of California, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Northern District of California, 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.