Military Trial Results · Analysis
Understanding Trends in Military Practice
Analysis of real court-martial records: what gets charged, how cases end, what sentences look like, how experienced the lawyers of record were, and what changed when the law did.
Every number is computed from the Military Trial Results data, built from the services' public court-martial records. Each post says how many cases it rests on, the years covered, and how we counted. Read how this data was built before citing it.
Browse the Analysis
- By InstallationBases and regions, by time period
- By OffenseUCMJ articles, rising and falling charges
- By ServiceArmy, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps
- By YearWhat each year and month looked like
- SentencesConfinement, discharges, judge alone vs. members
- Counsel ExperiencePrior cases of the lawyers of record
- Law ChangesBefore and after the major reforms
- Episode CompanionsThe numbers behind podcast episodes
Federal Prosecution Analysis
How do federal prosecutions compare with courts-martial? These posts use the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of everyone sentenced in federal court and the Federal Judicial Center's records of every federal defendant whose case ended, including dismissals and acquittals, for fiscal years 2016 to 2025. They cover sentences, guilty pleas, trials and acquittals, mandatory minimums, and supervised release, offense by offense. Where a federal crime has a close counterpart in the UCMJ, the post sets the two side by side. Where it doesn't, the post reports the federal numbers on their own. For how military law has moved toward the federal system, start with Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System.
Latest Analysis
§2T1.1 Tax Evasion: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016
In fiscal year 2016, 414 people were sentenced in federal court with §2T1.1 as the primary guideline. 251 (61%) received a prison term, and 114 (28%) received probation only. The median prison term was 15 months, and 49% of sentences were below the guideline range without a government request.
§2A3.5 Failure to Register as a Sex Offender: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025
In fiscal year 2025, 291 people were sentenced under §2A3.5 as the primary guideline, and 53% of the sentences were within the guideline range (155). 275 (95%) received a prison term with a median of 18 months, and 12 (4%) received probation only. Only 2 people were convicted after a trial.
§2A3.5 Failure to Register as a Sex Offender: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024
In fiscal year 2024, 310 people were sentenced under §2A3.5 as the primary guideline. 296 (95%) received a prison term, 11 (4%) received probation only, and the median prison term was 18 months. A mandatory minimum applied to 1 of the 310 people.
§2A3.5 Failure to Register as a Sex Offender: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023
In fiscal year 2023, 282 people were sentenced under §2A3.5 as the primary guideline. The median prison term was 18 months after a guilty plea and 63 months after a trial, though the trial figure is based on only 5 people. 270 (96%) received a prison term overall.
§2A3.5 Failure to Register as a Sex Offender: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022
In fiscal year 2022, 97% of the 307 people sentenced under §2A3.5 as the primary guideline pleaded guilty (298), which is the lowest plea share in the sheet's yearly table. 9 people were convicted after a trial. 293 (95%) received a prison term, and the median was 18 months.
§2A3.5 Failure to Register as a Sex Offender: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021
Fiscal year 2021 had 257 people sentenced under §2A3.5 as the primary guideline, the lowest count in the yearly table for fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 249 (97%) were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 18 months. 255 (more than 99%) pleaded guilty, and 2 were convicted after a trial.
§2A3.5 Failure to Register as a Sex Offender: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020
In fiscal year 2020, 291 people were sentenced in federal court with §2A3.5 as the primary guideline. 274 (94%) were sent to prison, with a median of 18 months, and 13 (4%) received probation only. The 4 people convicted after a trial had a median prison term of 10.2 months.
§2A3.5 Failure to Register as a Sex Offender: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019
In fiscal year 2019, 222 of the 360 people sentenced under §2A3.5 as the primary guideline were sentenced within the guideline range (62%). 348 (97%) received a prison term with a median of 18 months, and 9 (3%) received probation only. 3 people were convicted after a trial.
§2A3.5 Failure to Register as a Sex Offender: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018
Of the 360 people sentenced in fiscal year 2018 with §2A3.5 as the primary guideline, 359 pleaded guilty and 1 was convicted after a trial. 348 (97%) were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 18 months. The records list no mandatory minimum for any of the 360.
§2A3.5 Failure to Register as a Sex Offender: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017
The median prison term under §2A3.5 in fiscal year 2017 was 20.5 months, which is higher than the 18 months in the other years of the sheet's table. 384 people were sentenced with this primary guideline, and 370 of them (96%) received a prison term. 379 (99%) pleaded guilty, and 5 were convicted aft
§2A3.5 Failure to Register as a Sex Offender: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016
In fiscal year 2016, 427 people were sentenced in federal court with §2A3.5 as the primary guideline, the highest yearly count in the sheet's table for fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 417 of them (98%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 18 months. 422 (99%) pleaded guilty, and 5 were
§2G1.3 Promoting a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct with a Minor: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025
In fiscal year 2025, 367 people were sentenced in federal court under §2G1.3 as the primary guideline. 55% of the sentences (201) were within the guideline range, which is higher than in fiscal year 2024 and in all guidelines combined. All 367 received a prison term, with a median of 121 months (10.
Go deeper: Military Trial Results (every case, members) · Know Your Judge · Learn Your Lawyer (free)
Get the free newsletter.
Clips, audiograms and the opening of every issue, free.