§2T1.1 Tax Evasion: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019
In fiscal year 2019, the median prison term under §2T1.1 was 18 months, the highest median in the sheet's yearly table. 328 people were sentenced with this primary guideline, 200 (61%) received a prison term, and 87 (27%) received probation only. 19 people were convicted after a trial.
· Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2T1.1 Tax Evasion › §2T1.1: FY2019
In brief: In fiscal year 2019, the median prison term under §2T1.1 was 18 months, the highest median in the sheet's yearly table. 328 people were sentenced with this primary guideline, 200 (61%) received a prison term, and 87 (27%) received probation only. 19 people were convicted after a trial.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 328 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019. 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.
The Highest Median in the Table
The U.S. Sentencing Commission recorded 328 people sentenced in fiscal year 2019 whose primary guideline was §2T1.1. Among the 200 who went to prison, the median term was 18 months, and the table below lists a lower median for every other year.
A quarter of the terms were 30 months or longer, and a quarter were 9.8 months or shorter. The previous year's median was 12 months, and the next year's was also 12 months. The records do not show why 2019 differs, and these terms are the ones imposed, not time served.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 414 | 15 months | 93% |
| 2017 | 437 | 15 months | 91% |
| 2018 | 322 | 12 months | 93% |
| 2019 | 328 | 18 months | 94% |
| 2020 | 203 | 12 months | 91% |
| 2021 | 232 | 14.8 months | 96% |
| 2022 | 262 | 12 months | 94% |
| 2023 | 237 | 12 months | 91% |
| 2024 | 248 | 12 months | 93% |
| 2025 | 212 | 15 months | 96% |
Who Received Prison and Who Received Probation
The Guidelines Manual titles the guideline "Tax Evasion; Willful Failure to File Return, Supply Information, or Pay Tax; Fraudulent or False Returns, Statements, or Other Documents." Prison went to 200 of the 328 people (61%).
Probation only went to 87 people (27%). That means no prison and no other confinement. Supervised release was ordered for 201 people (61%), with a median term of 24 months.
Pleas Compared With Trial Convictions
A total of 309 people (94%) pleaded guilty, and 19 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 15 months. After a trial it was 36 months, based on 17 people.
Written plea agreements covered 96% of the guilty pleas, and 4% were straight pleas. The trial group is small, and the records cannot show why its median was higher.
The Guideline Range
The guideline range is calculated for each case under the Guidelines Manual. In 86 cases (26%), the sentence was within it. In 153 cases (47%), it was below the range without a government request. In 82 cases (25%), it was below at the government's request, and in 7 cases (2%) it was above.
The within-range share was 22% in fiscal year 2018 and 29% in fiscal year 2020. Across all guidelines in fiscal year 2019, it was 51%.
Restitution, Fines, and Minimums
Restitution was ordered for 297 people (91%) and a fine for 48 (15%). A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 7 people (2%).
Criminal History
84% of the people were in category I, the lowest criminal history category, and less than 1% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Series and All-Guidelines Context
Fiscal year 2019 ran from October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019. The Commission's offense type for these cases is Tax.
For fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 2,895 people were sentenced under §2T1.1. 63% went to prison, the median was 14 months, 93% pleaded guilty, and 24% were within the range. For all guidelines in fiscal year 2019, 76,538 people were sentenced, with a median prison term of 21 months and a guilty plea share of 98%.
What the Records Cannot Show
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. The records do not show the amount of tax involved, and the site's crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so the numbers stand alone.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2T1.1 (328), U.S. Sentencing Commission individual data files. The primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count.
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.
Mandatory minimum sentences. Many federal statutes on drugs, images of child exploitation, child sex abuse, and firearms carry mandatory minimum prison terms. The UCMJ has mandatory minimums only for a few offenses (a dishonorable discharge or dismissal for rape and sexual assault, and life for premeditated murder). Federal sentences for these offenses are partly set by Congress, not by the judge.
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)
- §2T1.1 Tax Evasion: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2T1.1 Tax Evasion: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2T1.1 Tax Evasion: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020 (previous or next fiscal year)
- How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range
- Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress
- 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.