Federal National Defense Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Florida, FY2016–2025
No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 85 people sentenced for national defense offenses in the Southern District of Florida in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 82 (96%) received a prison term, and the median was 36 months. The median for all 94 federal districts was 24 months.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Southern District of Florida, FY201 › National Defense Offense: Southern District of Florida
In brief: No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 85 people sentenced for national defense offenses in the Southern District of Florida in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 82 (96%) received a prison term, and the median was 36 months. The median for all 94 federal districts was 24 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 85 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.
No Mandatory Minimums, and a 36-Month Median
The U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type "National Defense" includes 85 people sentenced in this district. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 85 people with that information recorded.
82 people (96%) received a prison term, and 2 (2%) received probation only. The median prison term was 36 months (3 years). A quarter received 48 months or more, and a quarter received 18 months or less. 1 person received a life sentence.
Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
Comparison With All 94 Districts
Across all 94 districts, the Commission counted 2,236 people in this offense type. 84% were sent to prison, and the median was 24 months. In this district, both the prison share and the median were higher.
Guilty pleas were 89% here and 97% nationally. Sentences within the guideline range were 31% here and 36% nationally.
For all offenses in this district, the median prison term was 32 months, and 55% of sentences were within the range.
Guidelines in Use
The most common primary guideline was §2M5.2 (Exportation of Arms, Munitions, or Military Equipment or Services Without Required Validated Export License), with 62 people. The next was §2M5.1 (Evasion of Export Controls), with 11 people.
8 people were sentenced under §2M5.3 (Providing Material Support or Resources to Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations or Specially Designated Global Terrorists, or For a Terrorist Purpose). 2 people were sentenced under §2M6.1, which covers nuclear, biological, chemical, and other weapons offenses.
National defense cases were less than 1% of the 17,081 people sentenced in the district.
Pleas and Trials
A total of 76 people (89%) pleaded guilty, and 9 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 36 months. After a trial it was 57 months, based on 9 people.
Among guilty pleas, 95% had a written plea agreement, and 5% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Position Against the Guideline Range
All 85 people had guideline information. 26 (31%) were sentenced within the range. The government requested a lower sentence for 18 (21%), and 41 (48%) were below the range without that request. No one was above the range.
After Prison and Criminal History
Supervised release was ordered for 82 people (96%), and the median term was 36 months. 3 people (4%) received supervised release for life. A fine was ordered for 5 people (6%), and restitution for 1 (1%).
In criminal history, 82% were in the lowest category, category I, and 14% were in the highest, VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Yearly Counts and Limits
A fiscal year starts on October 1 and ends the following September. The yearly count ranged from 5 people to 14 people until fiscal year 2025, when it was 12 people. The yearly median prison term ranged from 16 months to 48 months.
These counts are small, so a single year is not a trend. The records do not describe any case, and courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal data.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 5 | 36 months | 4 of 5 |
| 2017 | 14 | 37 months | 86% |
| 2018 | 14 | 36 months | 93% |
| 2019 | 7 | 16 months | 5 of 7 |
| 2020 | 6 | 32 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2021 | 5 | 46 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2022 | 9 | 48 months | 7 of 9 |
| 2023 | 7 | 33 months | 7 of 7 |
| 2024 | 6 | 41.5 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2025 | 12 | 27 months | 92% |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Florida (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Florida South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "National Defense" (85). 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 Southern District of Florida, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of Florida, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Florida, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of Florida, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of Florida, 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.