U.S. Sentencing Commission proposes new guideline adjustment for offenses involving unmanned aircraft

Jessica Collins, a senior attorney in the Office of Education and Sentencing Practice at the United States Sentencing Commission, said on April 16 that the Commission "voted to publish a proposed amendment to the United States Sentencing Guidelines on unmanned aircraft" and is accepting comments through June 18, 2026.

The proposed amendment would add a new Chapter 3 adjustment at Section 3B1.6 providing a tiered sentencing increase for offenses involving unmanned aircraft and would amend Appendix A to reference 49 U.S.C. § 46307 to reflect a newly created felony. The change responds to the Safer Skies Act of 2025, which directs the Commission to substantially increase sentencing ranges for such offenses.

Under the Safer Skies Act directive described by Collins, the guideline must call for at least a 6-level increase for cases in which the Act's enhanced penalties (subsection C) apply and at least a 4-level increase for other unmanned-aircraft cases. Collins said the proposed Chapter 3 adjustment presents two options: a higher-tier 6-level increase when subsection C applies and a lower-tier 4-level increase for all other cases, and the Commission has requested public comment on how to implement those tiers.

Collins presented data to explain the scope of the issue. "Of the more than 61,000 individuals sentenced under the guidelines in fiscal year 2024, in just under 60 cases or approximately 0.1 percent of cases, the offense involved an unmanned aircraft," she said, and preliminary fiscal year 2025 data showed a similar count (just under 60 of more than 66,000 cases). Across the two years the Commission identified 113 cases, but Collins cautioned that those counts were flagged from pre-sentence reports and may overrepresent the number of cases in which a court would later find an individual's relevant conduct included unmanned-aircraft use.

The cases the Commission identified were concentrated in two primary crime types—drug trafficking and immigration—each representing about 35% of unmanned-aircraft cases. Collins tied those crime types to the two main uses observed: delivery of contraband (commonly called drone "drops") into correctional facilities and border-crossing surveillance. She reported 53 prison-contraband delivery cases (controlled substances in 48 of them and cellphones in 22) and 40 border-surveillance cases (83% involving transport of undocumented individuals, 13% involving drug transport, and 5% involving both).

On guideline applications and enhancements, Collins said 110 cases had complete guideline-application data: a weapon enhancement applied in 16 cases, Section 3B1.1 aggravating-role adjustments in 10 cases, and mitigating-role reductions under Section 3B1.2 in 13 cases; no cases received a Section 3B1.3 abuse-of-trust adjustment. She also noted sophisticated-means enhancements applied in two cases but were based on other conduct, and a specific importation enhancement under Section 2D1.1(b)(3) applied in one unmanned-aircraft importation case. Approximately 7% of identified cases were based solely on the operation of an unmanned aircraft; in most cases the aircraft was used in conjunction with a separate underlying offense.

Collins summarized sentencing outcomes: 49% of unmanned-aircraft cases were sentenced within the guideline range; about 17% received downward departures for substantial assistance or an early disposition program; and roughly 31% received below-range sentences otherwise. For the two most common crime types she reported average sentences and guideline minima: immigration cases averaged 8 months (guideline minimum 11 months), and drug-trafficking cases averaged 79 months (guideline minimum 97 months).

Collins emphasized that the Commission's counts reflect descriptions in pre-sentence reports and that a court would need to determine whether a particular defendant's conduct included use of an unmanned aircraft. She closed by directing interested parties to the Commission's website, www.ussc.gov, for the proposed amendment text and submission instructions and reminded listeners that the public comment period ends on June 18, 2026.

Next steps: the Commission has published the proposed amendment for comment; after the public comment period the Commission may revise and later vote on any final guideline amendment according to its rulemaking process.