§2T1.1 Tax Evasion: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022
In fiscal year 2022, 262 people were sentenced in federal court with §2T1.1 as the primary guideline. 148 of them (56%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 12 months. Most sentences were below the guideline range: 36% at the government's request and 44% without one.
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In brief: In fiscal year 2022, 262 people were sentenced in federal court with §2T1.1 as the primary guideline. 148 of them (56%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 12 months. Most sentences were below the guideline range: 36% at the government's request and 44% without one.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 262 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2022. 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.
How Did Sentences Compare With the Guideline Range?
Only 21% of the 262 sentences (54 people) fell within the guideline range. A sentence below the range at the government's request was given to 36% (94 people). A sentence below the range without a government request was given to 44% (114 people). No sentence was above the range.
For all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under this guideline, 24% of sentences were within the range. For every guideline in fiscal year 2022, the figure was 42%. Sentences under §2T1.1 were therefore within the range less often than sentences overall.
What Is Guideline §2T1.1?
The U.S. Sentencing 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." A case is counted here when this guideline set the offense level for its most serious count. The Commission's offense type for all 262 cases is Tax.
The fiscal year runs from October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2022. The numbers count only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data.
Prison, Probation, and Supervised Release
Of the 262 people, 148 (56%) were sentenced to prison. Another 91 (35%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. Among those sent to prison, the median term was 12 months. A quarter received 18.5 months or more, and a quarter received 6 months or less.
After prison, 147 people (56%) were ordered to serve supervised release. The median supervised release term was 24 months. Prison terms in the data are the terms imposed, not the time actually served.
Money Ordered
Restitution was ordered for 233 people (89%). A fine was ordered for 76 (29%). Fine and restitution are separate orders.
No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 262 people with that information recorded.
Guilty Pleas and Trials
A total of 245 people (94%) pleaded guilty, and 17 were convicted after a trial. Among guilty pleas, 98% had a written plea agreement and 2% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 12 months. After a trial it was 33 months, based on 15 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. That is a small group, and the records do not show what the cases had in common apart from the plea.
How 2022 Fits With Other Years
Fiscal year 2021 had 232 people under this guideline, a median prison term of 14.8 months, and 22% of sentences within the range. Fiscal year 2023 had 237 people, a median prison term of 12 months, and 16% within the range. The table lists every year from 2016 to 2025.
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 2,895 people were sentenced under §2T1.1. Of those, 63% were sent to prison, the median prison term was 14 months, and 93% pleaded guilty. For everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2022, the median prison term was 30 months and 97% pleaded guilty.
| 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 These Numbers Cannot Show
In the data, 90% of the people sentenced were in the lowest criminal history category. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, and there is no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline in the approved crosswalk. This post therefore reports the federal numbers on their own.
The records do not show the amount of tax involved, the facts of any case, or the reason a court sentenced below the range. They also do not show why one year differs from another.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2022 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2T1.1 (262), 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.
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 2021 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2T1.1 Tax Evasion: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023 (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.