Federal National Defense Offense Sentences in the Northern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025
In the Northern District of Georgia, 16 of the 17 people sentenced for national defense offenses (94%) received a prison term, with a median prison term of 30 months (2.5 years). That median is higher than the 24 months for this offense type across all 94 federal districts. The group is small, and m
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Northern District of Georgia, FY201 › National Defense Offense: Northern District of Georgia
In brief: In the Northern District of Georgia, 16 of the 17 people sentenced for national defense offenses (94%) received a prison term, with a median prison term of 30 months (2.5 years). That median is higher than the 24 months for this offense type across all 94 federal districts. The group is small, and most were sentenced in fiscal year 2018 or later.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 17 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.
Prison Terms for National Defense Offenses
The U.S. Sentencing Commission uses the offense type "National Defense" for a set of federal export and related cases. The Northern District of Georgia had 17 people in this type in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, covering sentences from fiscal years 2017 to 2024.
16 of the 17 (94%) received a prison term, and 1 (6%) received probation only. Among those sent to prison, a quarter received 46 months or more, and a quarter received 20.8 months or less. The terms are those imposed, not time served.
Which Guidelines Applied
The primary guidelines were these. §2M5.2 §2M5.2 (Exportation of Arms, Munitions, or Military Equipment or Services Without Required Validated Export License) was used 13 times. §2M5.1 (Evasion of Export Controls) was used 3 times.
These are federal export-control guidelines. They are not court-martial offenses, and the records give no case details beyond the guideline.
Year by Year
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 7 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 10. The table gives each year with cases. The largest single year was fiscal year 2018, with 5 people and a median prison term of 30 months.
Most years have 1, 2, or 3 people. A median based on so few sentences should not be read as a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 1 | 36 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2018 | 5 | 30 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2019 | 1 | 18 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2020 | 1 | 18.7 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2021 | 2 | 34.5 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2022 | 2 | 46 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2023 | 2 | 22 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2024 | 3 | 36 months | 2 of 3 |
Pleas and Trials
16 of 17 (94%) pleaded guilty, and 1 was convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 94% had a written plea agreement and 6% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 33 months. After a trial it was 24 months, based on 1 person convicted at trial and sent to prison. One case is not enough to compare trial and plea sentences.
Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range
Of the 17 sentences, 24% (4) were within the guideline range. 59% (10) were below the range at the government's request, and 18% (3) were below it without a government request. None was above the range.
Within-range sentences were less common here than for all offenses in the district, at 32%, but about as common as the 36% for this offense type nationwide. No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 17.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History
15 (88%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 1 (6%), and restitution for 0 (0%).
In criminal history, 94% were in the lowest category I and 0% in the highest VI.
Against the Nation and the District
For all 94 districts, 2,236 people were sentenced for this offense type, 84% were sent to prison, and 97% pleaded guilty. In this district, the prison share was higher (94%) and guilty pleas were about as common (94%).
These cases are less than 1% of the 5,362 people sentenced in the district in the period. For all offenses in the district, the median prison term was 41 months.
Limits of the Records
Only people convicted and sentenced are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, and the records say nothing about why any sentence was set where it was.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of Georgia (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Georgia North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "National Defense" (17). 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 Northern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Northern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of Georgia, 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.