§2T1.1 Tax Evasion: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021
In fiscal year 2021, 96% of the 232 people sentenced under §2T1.1 as the primary guideline pleaded guilty (222), and more than 99% of those pleas had a written plea agreement. 147 people (63%) received a prison term, with a median of 14.8 months, and 60 (26%) received probation only.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2T1.1 Tax Evasion › §2T1.1: FY2021
In brief: In fiscal year 2021, 96% of the 232 people sentenced under §2T1.1 as the primary guideline pleaded guilty (222), and more than 99% of those pleas had a written plea agreement. 147 people (63%) received a prison term, with a median of 14.8 months, and 60 (26%) received probation only.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 232 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021. 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.
Pleas With Written Agreements
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 232 people sentenced in fiscal year 2021 whose primary guideline was §2T1.1. Of those, 222 (96%) pleaded guilty and 10 were convicted after a trial.
Among the guilty pleas, more than 99% had a written plea agreement, and less than 1% were straight pleas.
A Median of 14.8 Months
A prison term went to 147 people (63%), and the median term was 14.8 months. A quarter of the terms were 24 months or longer, and a quarter were 6 months or shorter.
Probation only, meaning no prison or other confinement, went to 60 people (26%). Supervised release followed prison for 144 people (62%), with a median term of 24 months. Terms are those imposed, not time served.
Sentences After Trial
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 12 months. After a trial it was 24 months, based on 9 people.
Only 10 people were convicted at trial, so the trial figure comes from a very small group. The records cannot show whether the facts or the charges explain the gap.
Below, Within, and Above the Range
The Guidelines Manual calculates a range for each case. Of the 232 sentences, 52% (121) were below it without a government request. 25% (58) were below it at the government's request, 22% (50) were within it, and 1% (3) were above it.
The within-range share was 29% in fiscal year 2020 and 21% in fiscal year 2022. For all guidelines in fiscal year 2021, it was 43%.
Money Penalties and Minimums
Restitution was ordered for 197 people (85%), and a fine for 73 (31%). A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 5 people (2%).
Criminal History Category
84% of the people were in category I, the lowest criminal history category. Less than 1% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Fiscal Year 2021 in Context
The manual titles the guideline "Tax Evasion; Willful Failure to File Return, Supply Information, or Pay Tax; Fraudulent or False Returns, Statements, or Other Documents." Fiscal year 2021 ran from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021, and the Commission's offense type for these cases is Tax.
From fiscal year 2016 to fiscal year 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. The table lists each year. In fiscal year 2021, all guidelines together covered 57,287 people, with a median prison term of 29 months and a guilty plea share of 98%.
| 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% |
What the Records Leave Out
The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. It does not show the size of any tax loss in these files, and the site's crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2T1.1 (232), 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 2020 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2T1.1 Tax Evasion: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022 (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.