Federal Tax Offense Sentences in the District of Maine, FY2016–2025
In the District of Maine, 10 of the 17 people sentenced for tax offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term, and 7 received probation only. The median prison term was 5.6 months. Across all 94 districts, the median for tax offenses was 15.1 months.
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In brief: In the District of Maine, 10 of the 17 people sentenced for tax offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term, and 7 received probation only. The median prison term was 5.6 months. Across all 94 districts, the median for tax offenses was 15.1 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 17 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 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.
Brief Prison Terms in Most Tax Cases
The U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type "Tax" covers 17 people in the District of Maine. Of those, 10 (59%) were sent to prison, and 7 (41%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
The median prison term among the 10 was 5.6 months. A quarter received 14.3 months or more, and a quarter received 3.8 months or less. Across all districts, 5,024 people fall in this offense type, 66% were sent to prison, and the median was 15.1 months. The median for all offenses in Maine was 36 months.
Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
Guidelines Used in These Cases
Of the 17 cases, 10 were sentenced primarily under §2T1.1 (Tax Evasion). The next 2 were sentenced under §2T3.1 (Evading Import Duties or Restrictions (Smuggling)), and 2 under §2T1.4 (Aiding, Assisting, Procuring, Counseling, or Advising Tax Fraud). One was sentenced under §2T1.9 (Conspiracy to Impede, Impair, Obstruct, or Defeat Tax).
Tax cases were 1% of the 1,628 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
Restitution and Fines
Restitution was ordered for 12 of the 17 people (71%), and a fine was ordered for 5 (29%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 8 people (47%), with a median term of 30 months.
Pleas and Trials
Guilty pleas were entered by 15 of 17 people (88%), and 2 were convicted after a trial. For all offenses in Maine, guilty pleas were 96%, and for tax offenses in all districts they were 93%.
The median prison term was 5.6 months after a guilty plea and 14 months after a trial. The trial figure is based on only 2 people.
Among guilty pleas, 87% had a written plea agreement and 13% were straight pleas with no agreement. The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced, so acquittals and dismissals are not included.
Position Against the Guideline Range
Within the guideline range were 47% of sentences (8). Another 35% (6) were below the range at the government's request, and 18% (3) were below the range without a government request. None was above the range.
For all offenses in Maine, 30% of sentences were within the range, and for tax offenses in all districts the figure was 24%. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 16 people with that information recorded.
Criminal History and Yearly Counts
Among the 17 people, 88% were in the lowest criminal history category, category I, and 0% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 account for 7 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 account for 10 people. A fiscal year begins on October 1 and ends the following September. The table shows that fiscal year 2024 had 6 people, and the other years had 1 to 3 people. With groups this small, the medians, including 95 months in fiscal year 2018, rest on single cases, and the records cannot show a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2 | 4.6 months | 1 of 2 |
| 2017 | 3 | 1 months | 2 of 3 |
| 2018 | 1 | 95 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2019 | 1 | 15 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2020 | 1 | 6 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2023 | 1 | n/a | 1 of 1 |
| 2024 | 6 | n/a | 6 of 6 |
| 2025 | 2 | 7.9 months | 2 of 2 |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of Maine (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Maine") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Tax" (17). Offense types are the Commission's OFFGUIDE categories.
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)
- Federal Sentences in the District of Maine, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of Maine, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of Maine, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of Maine, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Child Pornography Sentences in the District of Maine, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- 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.