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# Federal Tax Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-tax-sentences-eastern-district-of-north-carolina/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:32:47.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T10:32:46.000Z
- Description: All 52 people sentenced for tax offenses in the Eastern District of North Carolina in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 pleaded guilty, and 44 (85%) received a prison term. The median was 25.5 months (2.1 years), compared with 15.1 months across all 94 federal districts. Restitution was ordered for 51 of th
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina,](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-north-carolina/) › Tax Offense: Eastern District of North Carolina

**In brief:** All 52 people sentenced for tax offenses in the Eastern District of North Carolina in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 pleaded guilty, and 44 (85%) received a prison term. The median was 25.5 months (2.1 years), compared with 15.1 months across all 94 federal districts. Restitution was ordered for 51 of the 52 (98%).

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 52 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](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/).

## Prison Terms for Tax Offenses

The median prison term among the 44 people sent to prison was 25.5 months. A quarter received 36.2 months or more, and a quarter received 17.5 months or less. Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, went to 7 people (13%).

For this offense type across all 94 districts, 5,024 people are in the records, 66% were sent to prison, and the median was 15.1 months. For all offenses in this district, the median was 60 months. Terms are those imposed, not time served.

## Every Defendant Pleaded Guilty

All 52 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none were convicted after a trial. Across all 94 districts, 93% pleaded guilty for this offense type.

Every guilty plea (100%) came with a written plea agreement. The records have no trial sentences to compare with plea sentences.

## Restitution, Fines, and Supervision

Restitution was ordered for 51 people (98%). A fine was ordered for 0\. Restitution is money a court orders paid, and in tax cases the records do not say who received it.

Supervised release followed prison for 44 people (85%), with a median term of 36 months. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 4 of the 52 people (8%).

## Guideline Range Position

Sentences were below the guideline range at the government's request for 40% of the 52 people (21). Another 31% (16) were within the range, 27% (14) were below it without a government request, and 2% (1) were above it.

Across all 94 districts, 24% of sentences for this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the figure was 56%.

## Which Tax Guidelines Applied

"Tax" is the Commission's offense type. The most common primary guideline here was §2T1.4 (Aiding, Assisting, Procuring, Counseling, or Advising Tax Fraud), with 34 people.

Then came §2T1.1 (Tax Evasion) with 14 and §2T1.6 (Failing to Collect or Truthfully Account for and Pay Over Tax) with 4\. In the Commission's data, 58% were in the lowest criminal history category and 2% in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

## Small Yearly Counts

Tax cases were less than 1% of the 7,801 people sentenced in the district. Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 30 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 22\. Yearly counts run from 1 to 12.

The yearly median prison term runs from 12 months to 44 months, based on very few people each year, so the table does not show a trend. A fiscal year begins October 1 and ends in September.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 5                | 44 months     | 5 of 5         |
| 2017        | 12               | 25.5 months   | 100%           |
| 2018        | 6                | 24 months     | 6 of 6         |
| 2019        | 7                | 12 months     | 7 of 7         |
| 2020        | 4                | 38.5 months   | 4 of 4         |
| 2021        | 6                | 27 months     | 6 of 6         |
| 2022        | 1                | 30 months     | 1 of 1         |
| 2023        | 5                | 24 months     | 5 of 5         |
| 2024        | 2                | 12 months     | 2 of 2         |
| 2025        | 4                | 24.5 months   | 4 of 4         |

## Installations and Limits

Camp Lejeune, Fort Bragg, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, and Seymour Johnson AFB are in this district. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, and these numbers are federal only.

Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, which counts only people who were convicted and sentenced.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of North Carolina (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "N Carolina East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Tax" (52). 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](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)
- [Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-north-carolina/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-eastern-district-of-north-carolina/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-eastern-district-of-north-carolina/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-other-sentences-eastern-district-of-north-carolina/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of North Carolina, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-eastern-district-of-north-carolina/) (same district, other offense type)
- [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.