> ## 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 2020 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2t1-4-aiding-assisting-procuring-counseling-or-advising-tax-fy2020/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:25:35.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:25:35.000Z - Description: In fiscal year 2020, 121 people were sentenced in federal court under §2T1.4, the fewest in the 2016 to 2025 record for this guideline. A prison term went to 88 (73%), and the median was 21.5 months. No one in the group was sentenced above the guideline range. - 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: FY2020 **In brief:** In fiscal year 2020, 121 people were sentenced in federal court under §2T1.4, the fewest in the 2016 to 2025 record for this guideline. A prison term went to 88 (73%), and the median was 21.5 months. No one in the group was sentenced above the guideline range. 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 121 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](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/). ## A Smaller Group in Fiscal Year 2020 The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 121 people whose primary guideline was §2T1.4, "Aiding, Assisting, Procuring, Counseling, or Advising Tax Fraud." The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020\. The yearly table shows a lower count than in 2019, when 166 people were sentenced, and in 2021, when 138 were. The Commission files these cases under its Tax offense type. The records do not say what led to the smaller count. ## Prison and Probation Of the 121 people, 88 (73%) received a prison term and 19 (16%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The median prison term was 21.5 months. A quarter received 34.5 months or more, and a quarter received 11.3 months or less. Supervised release followed prison for 88 people (73%), with a median term of 12 months. ## Range Positions With No Sentence Above A sentence within the guideline range went to 32 people (26%). A sentence below the range at the government's request went to 31 (26%), and below the range without a government request to 58 (48%). Above the range were 0 people (0%). A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 2 people (2%). ## 10 Trials and 111 Guilty Pleas In this group, 111 people (92%) pleaded guilty, and 10 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 18 months. After a trial it was 53 months, based on 10 people sent to prison. Of the guilty pleas, 96% had a written plea agreement and 4% were straight pleas. These are groups of convicted people, so they do not show how a case would have ended differently. ## Criminal History, Restitution, and Fines In category I, the lowest criminal history category, were 84% of the group. In category VI, the highest, were 2%. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. Restitution was ordered for 115 people (95%), and a fine was ordered for 16 (13%). ## Comparisons With All Years and All Guidelines Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 1,451 people were sentenced under §2T1.4\. In that period, 71% were sent to prison, the median prison term was 21 months, 92% pleaded guilty, and 24% were sentenced within the range. The 2020 median of 21.5 months is about the same as the median for all years. For all 64,565 people sentenced in federal court in 2020 under any guideline, the median prison term was 18 months, which is lower than under this guideline. Guilty pleas were 98%, and 50% were sentenced within the range. In fiscal year 2019, the median here was 18 months with 22% within the range. In fiscal year 2021, it was 18 months with 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% | ## Limits of This Record The data includes only convictions that led to a sentence. Acquittals and dismissals are not counted, and the prison terms are the terms imposed. A single year of 121 people is not a trend, and the approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart, so the federal numbers are reported alone. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2T1.4 (121), 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 2019](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2t1-4-aiding-assisting-procuring-counseling-or-advising-tax-fy2019/) (previous or next fiscal year) - [§2T1.4 Aiding, Assisting, Procuring, Counseling, or Advising Tax Fraud: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2t1-4-aiding-assisting-procuring-counseling-or-advising-tax-fy2021/) (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.