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# Federal Tax Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-tax-sentences-eastern-district-of-wisconsin/
- Published: 2026-11-04T11:16:37.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T11:16:37.000Z
- Description: All 49 people sentenced for tax offenses in the Eastern District of Wisconsin in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 pleaded guilty. 29 (59%) received prison, with a median term of 12 months, and 69% were sentenced below the guideline range without a government request.
- 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 Wisconsin, FY20](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-wisconsin/) › Tax Offense: Eastern District of Wisconsin

**In brief:** All 49 people sentenced for tax offenses in the Eastern District of Wisconsin in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 pleaded guilty. 29 (59%) received prison, with a median term of 12 months, and 69% were sentenced below the guideline range without a government request.

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 49 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/).

## Every Tax Case Was a Guilty Plea

Of the 49 people, 49 (100%) pleaded guilty, and none were convicted after a trial. All of them (100%) had a written plea agreement.

In all districts together, 93% of people sentenced for tax offenses pleaded guilty. The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced, so tax cases that ended in acquittal or dismissal are not in it.

## Sentences Below the Guideline Range

Sentences below the guideline range without a government request were 69% (34 people). Another 22% (11) were below the range at the government's request, and 8% (4) were within the range. None were above the range.

In all districts together, 24% of tax sentences were within the range. The district's figure for all offenses was 17%. The records do not show the reasons for the sentences below the range.

## Prison and Probation

A total of 29 of the 49 people (59%) received a prison term, and 17 (35%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. Across all districts, 66% were sent to prison.

Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 12 months. A quarter received 21 months or more, and a quarter received 8 months or less. The all-districts median was 15.1 months, and the median for all offenses in this district was 48 months.

Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.

## Restitution, Fines, and Supervised Release

Restitution was ordered for 46 people (94%), and a fine for 4 (8%). The sheet does not give restitution amounts.

Supervised release was ordered for 29 people (59%), with a median term of 24 months. A mandatory minimum applied to 1 of the 49 people (2%).

## Which Tax Guidelines Applied

"Tax" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type. The most common primary guideline was §2T1.1 (Tax Evasion), with 28 people. Next were §2T1.4 (Aiding, Assisting, Procuring, Counseling, or Advising Tax Fraud) with 13 and §2T1.6 (Failing to Collect or Truthfully Account for and Pay Over Tax) with 8.

Tax cases were 2% of the 2,907 people sentenced in the district. In the federal data, 92% were in the lowest criminal history category, category I, and 0% in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

## Counts by Fiscal Year

The district sentenced 26 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 23 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. Fiscal years run from October 1 to the end of September.

Yearly counts range from 1 to 11\. With groups that small, the medians in the table, from 0 months to 41 months, do not show a trend. They also cover only people who received prison, so a year's median can rest on very few people.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 4                | 5 months      | 4 of 4         |
| 2017        | 8                | 24 months     | 8 of 8         |
| 2018        | 3                | 15 months     | 3 of 3         |
| 2019        | 11               | 12 months     | 100%           |
| 2020        | 4                | 8.2 months    | 4 of 4         |
| 2021        | 1                | 8 months      | 1 of 1         |
| 2022        | 6                | 12 months     | 6 of 6         |
| 2023        | 5                | 0 months      | 5 of 5         |
| 2024        | 4                | 41 months     | 4 of 4         |
| 2025        | 3                | 16 months     | 3 of 3         |

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Wisconsin (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Wisconsin East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Tax" (49). 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 Wisconsin, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-wisconsin/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-eastern-district-of-wisconsin/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-eastern-district-of-wisconsin/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Robbery Sentences in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-robbery-sentences-eastern-district-of-wisconsin/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-eastern-district-of-wisconsin/) (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.