Federal Tax Offense Sentences in the District of Minnesota, FY2016–2025
101 people in the District of Minnesota were sentenced for tax offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 55% received a prison term, and 25% received probation only. The median prison term was 24 months (2 years), compared with 15.1 months for tax offenses in all 94 federal districts together.
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In brief: 101 people in the District of Minnesota were sentenced for tax offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 55% received a prison term, and 25% received probation only. The median prison term was 24 months (2 years), compared with 15.1 months for tax offenses in all 94 federal districts together.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 101 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.
Restitution Was Ordered in Most Cases
Restitution was ordered for 92 of the 101 people (91%), and a fine for 6 (6%). Restitution is a court order to repay money, and these figures show how often it was ordered, not the amounts.
Tax cases were 3% of the 3,630 people sentenced in the District of Minnesota in fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
Prison or Probation
56 of the 101 people (55%) received a prison term, and 25 (25%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. In all districts, 66% were sent to prison, which is higher than the Minnesota figure.
A quarter of those sent to prison received 41 months or more, and a quarter received 12 months or less. For all offenses in the District of Minnesota, the median was 70 months. Terms are those imposed.
Main Guidelines in This Category
The Commission assigns the offense type by primary guideline. In Minnesota, 66 people were sentenced under §2T1.1 (Tax Evasion). 25 were sentenced under §2T1.4 (Aiding, Assisting, Procuring, Counseling, or Advising Tax Fraud), and 10 under §2T1.6 (Failing to Collect or Truthfully Account for and Pay Over Tax).
Guilty Pleas and Trials
93 of 101 people (92%) pleaded guilty, and 8 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 21 months after a guilty plea and 48 months after a trial.
Guilty pleas were 93% for tax offenses in all districts and 94% for all offenses in this district. Every guilty plea in Minnesota (100%) had a written plea agreement.
Most Common Position: Below the Range Without a Request
51 people (50%) were below the guideline range without a government request. 24 (24%) were below it at the government's request, 24 (24%) were within it, and 2 (2%) were above it.
The within-range share was 24% for tax offenses in all districts and 31% for all offenses in this district. A mandatory minimum applied to 6 of the 101 people (6%).
Supervised Release and Criminal History
56 people (55%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 24 months. 74% were in the lowest criminal history category, and 6% in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Counts by Fiscal Year
57 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019, and 44 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. Each fiscal year runs from October 1 to the end of September.
The yearly medians range from 6 months in 2021 to 62.5 months in 2019. The 2025 row has 3 people and shows n/a. The records cannot show what accounts for the differences.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 19 | 45 months | 84% |
| 2017 | 16 | 24 months | 94% |
| 2018 | 12 | 30 months | 92% |
| 2019 | 10 | 62.5 months | 100% |
| 2020 | 8 | 16.5 months | 7 of 8 |
| 2021 | 9 | 6 months | 9 of 9 |
| 2022 | 9 | 24 months | 8 of 9 |
| 2023 | 7 | 12 months | 7 of 7 |
| 2024 | 8 | 21 months | 7 of 8 |
| 2025 | 3 | n/a | 3 of 3 |
What the Records Cannot Show
The Commission data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it, so it cannot show how often tax charges ended another way.
The records also give no amounts of tax involved and no case facts. The figures describe groups of sentences, and a single year's group is small.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of Minnesota (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Minnesota") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Tax" (101). 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.
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 (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 Minnesota, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of Minnesota, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of Minnesota, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of Minnesota, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Robbery Sentences in the District of Minnesota, 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.