§2T1.6 Failing to Collect or Truthfully Account for and Pay Over Tax: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018
In fiscal year 2018, 38 of the 39 people sentenced under §2T1.6 (97%) were ordered to pay restitution. 26 (67%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 16.5 months. 37 people (95%) pleaded guilty and 2 were convicted after a trial.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2T1.6 Failing to Collect or Truthfully Account for and Pay › §2T1.6: FY2018
In brief: In fiscal year 2018, 38 of the 39 people sentenced under §2T1.6 (97%) were ordered to pay restitution. 26 (67%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 16.5 months. 37 people (95%) pleaded guilty and 2 were convicted after a trial.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 39 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2018. 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.
Restitution Was Ordered for Nearly Everyone
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 39 people in fiscal year 2018 whose primary guideline was §2T1.6. The Guidelines Manual titles it "Failing to Collect or Truthfully Account for and Pay Over Tax."
Restitution was ordered for 38 of the 39 (97%). A fine was ordered for 4 (10%). The records show whether these were ordered and do not give the amounts.
Prison Terms
26 of the 39 people (67%) were sentenced to prison, and 8 (21%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
The median prison term among those sent to prison was 16.5 months. A quarter received 24 months or more, and a quarter received 6.8 months or less. The median was higher than the all-years median for this guideline, which is 12 months.
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 26 people (67%), and the median term was 36 months. No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 39 (0%).
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 47 | 12 months | 100% |
| 2017 | 47 | 12 months | 98% |
| 2018 | 39 | 16.5 months | 95% |
| 2019 | 40 | 24 months | 95% |
| 2020 | 28 | 12 months | 89% |
| 2021 | 39 | 13 months | 97% |
| 2022 | 69 | 12.5 months | 100% |
| 2023 | 70 | 15 months | 97% |
| 2024 | 57 | 12 months | 100% |
| 2025 | 63 | 12 months | 95% |
Plea and Trial Results
37 of the 39 people (95%) pleaded guilty, and 2 were convicted after a trial. 92% of the guilty pleas had a written plea agreement, and 8% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 16.5 months. After a trial it was 24 months, based on 2 people who were convicted at trial and sent to prison. With only 2 cases, the data is too thin to show how trials and pleas compare.
Acquittals and dismissals are outside the Commission's data, which includes only people who were convicted and sentenced.
Where Sentences Fell Against the Range
62% (24 people) were sentenced below the guideline range without a government request. 21% (8) were below it at the government's request. 13% (5) were within the range, and 5% (2) were above it.
The within-range share was lower than the 17% all-years share for this guideline and the 51% share for every guideline in fiscal year 2018.
Criminal History
87% of the group were in criminal history category I, the lowest. None (0%) were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Other Years and the Whole Federal System
Fiscal year 2017 had 47 people under this guideline, a median prison term of 12 months, and 21% within the range. Fiscal year 2019 had 40 people, a median prison term of 24 months, and 25% within the range.
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 499 people were sentenced under §2T1.6. 69% went to prison, and 97% pleaded guilty.
For every guideline, 69,425 people were sentenced in fiscal year 2018. Their median prison term was 24 months, and 97% pleaded guilty. The Commission's offense type for the 39 cases here is Tax.
Limits of the Numbers
Fiscal year 2018 ran from October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart, so only federal numbers appear here.
The records do not describe any case or give reasons for sentences.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2018 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2T1.6 (39), 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)
- §2T1.6 Failing to Collect or Truthfully Account for and Pay Over Tax: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2T1.6 Failing to Collect or Truthfully Account for and Pay Over Tax: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2T1.6 Failing to Collect or Truthfully Account for and Pay Over Tax: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019 (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.