§2T1.1 Tax Evasion: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020
Fiscal year 2020 had 203 people sentenced under §2T1.1 as the primary guideline, the lowest yearly count in the sheet's table. 135 (67%) received a prison term, and the median was 12 months. 44 (22%) received probation only.
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In brief: Fiscal year 2020 had 203 people sentenced under §2T1.1 as the primary guideline, the lowest yearly count in the sheet's table. 135 (67%) received a prison term, and the median was 12 months. 44 (22%) received probation only.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 203 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020. 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 Lowest Count in the Yearly Table
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 203 people in fiscal year 2020 whose primary guideline was §2T1.1. In the table below, every other year from fiscal year 2016 to fiscal year 2025 has a higher count.
The count was 328 in fiscal year 2019 and 232 in fiscal year 2021. The records do not explain the lower number, and one year is not a trend. Fiscal year 2020 ran from October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020.
| 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% |
Prison Terms and Probation
Of the 203 people, 135 (67%) were sentenced to prison and 44 (22%) to probation only. Probation only means no prison or other confinement.
The median prison term was 12 months. A quarter of the terms were 24.5 months or longer, and a quarter were 6 months or shorter. These are imposed terms. Supervised release was ordered for 131 people (65%), with a median of 24 months.
Guilty Pleas and Trials
Guilty pleas accounted for 184 of the 203 people (91%), and 19 people were convicted after a trial. After a guilty plea, the median prison term was 12 months. After a trial, it was 36 months, based on 17 people.
Written plea agreements covered 97% of guilty pleas, and 3% were straight pleas. The records show both medians but not the reasons for them.
Relation to the Guideline Range
The Guidelines Manual calculates a range for each case. In fiscal year 2020, 59 sentences (29%) were within it. 89 (44%) were below it without a government request, and 54 (27%) were below it at the government's request. 1 sentence (less than 1%) was above it.
The previous year's within-range share was 26%, and the next year's was 22%. For all guidelines in fiscal year 2020, it was 50%.
Fines, Restitution, and Mandatory Minimums
A fine was ordered for 62 people (31%), and restitution for 180 (89%). A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 2 people (less than 1%).
Criminal History
86% of the group was in category I, the lowest criminal history category, and 1% was in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Series Totals and All Guidelines
The Guidelines Manual titles §2T1.1 "Tax Evasion; Willful Failure to File Return, Supply Information, or Pay Tax; Fraudulent or False Returns, Statements, or Other Documents." The Commission's offense type is Tax.
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 2,895 people were sentenced under this guideline. 63% went to prison, the median was 14 months, 93% pleaded guilty, and 24% were within the range. For all guidelines in fiscal year 2020, 64,565 people were sentenced, with a median prison term of 18 months. The §2T1.1 median was lower.
Limits
Only convicted and sentenced people are counted. The site's crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so this post reports federal numbers alone.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2T1.1 (203), 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 2019 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2T1.1 Tax Evasion: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021 (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.