> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # §2T1.4 Aiding, Assisting, Procuring, Counseling, or Advising Tax Fraud: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2t1-4-aiding-assisting-procuring-counseling-or-advising-tax-fy2016/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:25:31.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:25:31.000Z - Description: In fiscal year 2016, 181 people were sentenced in federal court with §2T1.4 as the primary guideline. Of those, 126 (70%) received a prison term, with a median of 24 months. Restitution was ordered for 165 people (91%). - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2T1.4 Aiding, Assisting, Procuring, Counseling, or Advising](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2t1-4-aiding-assisting-procuring-counseling-or-advising-tax/) › §2T1.4: FY2016 **In brief:** In fiscal year 2016, 181 people were sentenced in federal court with §2T1.4 as the primary guideline. Of those, 126 (70%) received a prison term, with a median of 24 months. Restitution was ordered for 165 people (91%). Updated November 4, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025 This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 181 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016\. 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/). ## Who Was Sentenced Under §2T1.4 in Fiscal Year 2016? The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles §2T1.4 "Aiding, Assisting, Procuring, Counseling, or Advising Tax Fraud." The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 181 people sentenced in fiscal year 2016 for cases where this was the primary guideline. That guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016\. The Commission places these cases in its Tax offense type, which had 181 people in the year. ## Prison, Probation, and Prison Length A prison term was imposed on 126 of the 181 people (70%). Another 40 (22%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. Among the 126 who went to prison, the median prison term was 24 months (2 years). A quarter received 36 months or more, and a quarter received 12 months or less. These are terms imposed, not time served. ## Restitution, Fines, and Supervised Release Restitution was ordered for 165 people (91%), and a fine was ordered for 15 (8%). Supervised release followed prison for 125 people (69%), with a median term of 12 months. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 7 of the 181 people (4%). ## Guilty Pleas and Trials A total of 161 people (89%) pleaded guilty, and 20 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 18 months. After a trial it was 48 months, based on 19 people sent to prison. Among those who pleaded guilty, 96% had a written plea agreement and 4% entered straight pleas with no agreement. The trial and plea medians describe groups of people who were convicted, and the records do not show why a case went to trial. ## Few Sentences Were Within the Range The advisory guideline range was the basis for the sentence in 28% of cases (51 people). A sentence below the range at the government's request applied to 28% (51 people), and a sentence below the range without a government request applied to 42% (76 people). Above the range applied to 2% (3 people). Criminal history was mostly in the lowest category: 69% were in category I and 3% were in category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. ## The Same Measures Across All Years and All Guidelines For fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 1,451 people were sentenced under §2T1.4\. Of those, 71% were sent to prison, the median prison term was 21 months, 92% pleaded guilty, and 24% were sentenced within the range. The 2016 median of 24 months is higher than the 21 months for all years. For everyone sentenced in federal court in 2016 under any guideline, the total was 67,742 people. Their median prison term was 24 months, the same as here, and 49% were sentenced within the range. In fiscal year 2017, the next year, 161 people were sentenced under §2T1.4, with a median of 18 months and 22% within the range. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 181 | 24 months | 89% | | 2017 | 161 | 18 months | 93% | | 2018 | 195 | 24 months | 91% | | 2019 | 166 | 18 months | 92% | | 2020 | 121 | 21.5 months | 92% | | 2021 | 138 | 18 months | 93% | | 2022 | 139 | 20 months | 96% | | 2023 | 126 | 24 months | 89% | | 2024 | 112 | 20.5 months | 94% | | 2025 | 112 | 24 months | 95% | ## What the Records Leave Out The data counts only people convicted and sentenced, so acquittals and dismissed cases are absent. No close court-martial counterpart for this guideline appears in the approved crosswalk, so this post gives the federal numbers on their own. The records do not describe any individual case. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2T1.4 (181), 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article) - [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts) - [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method) - [§2T1.4 Aiding, Assisting, Procuring, Counseling, or Advising Tax Fraud: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2t1-4-aiding-assisting-procuring-counseling-or-advising-tax/) (overview) - [§2T1.4 Aiding, Assisting, Procuring, Counseling, or Advising Tax Fraud: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2t1-4-aiding-assisting-procuring-counseling-or-advising-tax-fy2017/) (previous or next fiscal year) - [How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-sentences-outside-guideline-range/) - [Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-mandatory-minimum-sentences/) - [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source) - [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.