Federal Tax Offense Sentences in the District of New Jersey, FY2016–2025
199 people were sentenced in the District of New Jersey for tax offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 60% received a prison term, with a median of 12 months, and 21% received probation only. Tax cases were less likely to end in prison here than in the district's cases overall, where the median pris
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the District of New Jersey, FY2016–2025 › Tax Offense: District of New Jersey
In brief: 199 people were sentenced in the District of New Jersey for tax offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 60% received a prison term, with a median of 12 months, and 21% received probation only. Tax cases were less likely to end in prison here than in the district's cases overall, where the median prison term was 37 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 199 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.
Prison, Probation, and Supervised Release
120 of the 199 people (60%) received a prison term, and 41 (21%) received probation only. Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 12 months. A quarter received 24 months or more, and a quarter received 6 months or less.
For tax offenses across all 94 districts, 66% were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 15.1 months. Both figures were lower in this district.
120 people (60%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 24 months.
Sentences Below the Guideline Range
The records show the position against the guideline range for all 199 people. 24% (48) were within the range. 32% (63) were below it at the government's request, and 44% (88) were below it without a request. None was above the range.
For tax offenses across all 94 districts, 24% of sentences were within the range, the same share as here. For all offenses in this district, the figure was 37%.
Which Tax Guidelines Applied
"Tax" is the Sentencing Commission's offense type, assigned by the primary guideline. §2T1.1 (Tax Evasion) applied to 133 people.
40 people were sentenced under §2T1.4 (Aiding, Assisting, Procuring, Counseling, or Advising Tax Fraud), and 21 under §2T1.6 (Failing to Collect or Truthfully Account for and Pay Over Tax). 3 were sentenced under §2T1.9 (Conspiracy to Impede, Impair, Obstruct, or Defeat Tax).
Tax cases were 3% of the 6,441 people sentenced in this district.
Fines and Restitution
A fine was ordered for 81 people (41%), and restitution for 149 (75%). Restitution is money ordered paid back, and in tax cases the records here do not show to whom or in what amount.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 199 people with that information recorded (less than 1%).
Pleas and Trials
186 people (93%) pleaded guilty, and 13 were convicted after a trial. All of the guilty pleas had a written plea agreement.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 12 months, and after a trial it was 36 months, based on 13 people. The records cannot show the reason for the gap.
For all 94 districts, 93% of people in this offense type pleaded guilty. For all offenses in this district, the figure was 97%.
Criminal History
87% of the people were in criminal history category I, the lowest. Less than 1% were in category VI, the highest.
Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so there is no military counterpart for this measure.
Counts by Fiscal Year
83 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019, and 116 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. The fiscal year runs from October 1 through the end of September.
Yearly counts range from 10 to 30 people, which are small groups. The medians in the table do not establish a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 18 | 7.5 months | 89% |
| 2017 | 24 | 9 months | 96% |
| 2018 | 19 | 12.5 months | 100% |
| 2019 | 22 | 15 months | 95% |
| 2020 | 18 | 15 months | 89% |
| 2021 | 28 | 12 months | 93% |
| 2022 | 10 | 14 months | 90% |
| 2023 | 16 | 18 months | 100% |
| 2024 | 14 | 14.5 months | 86% |
| 2025 | 30 | 15 months | 93% |
What the Records Cannot Show
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted, so acquittals and dismissals are missing. Prison terms are those imposed, not time served.
Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst is in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal court, and this post reports federal numbers on their own.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of New Jersey (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "New Jersey") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Tax" (199). 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 New Jersey, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of New Jersey, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of New Jersey, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of New Jersey, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of New Jersey, 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.