The following is copied from the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. This section covers losing national defense information.

§2M3.4. Losing National Defense Information

(a)Base Offense Level:

(1)18, if top secret information was lost; or

(2)13, otherwise.

Commentary

Statutory Provisions: 18 U.S.C. § 793(f).

Application Note:

1.See Commentary to §2M3.1.

2.If the defendant was convicted of 18 U.S.C. § 793(d) or (e) for the willful transmission or communication of intangible information with reason to believe that it could be used to the injury of the United States or the advantage of a foreign nation, apply §2M3.2.

Background. Offenses prosecuted under this statute generally do not involve subversive conduct on behalf of a foreign power, but rather the loss of classified information by the gross negligence of an employee of the federal government or a federal contractor.

Historical Note: Effective November 1, 1987.

(EFFECTIVE November 1, 2010)

United States Sentencing Commission