Federal Tax Offense Sentences in the Northern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025
59 people were sentenced for tax offenses in the Northern District of Georgia in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 48 (81%) received a prison term, with a median of 21.5 months, compared with 15.1 months for this offense type across all 94 districts. Restitution was ordered for 56 people (95%).
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In brief: 59 people were sentenced for tax offenses in the Northern District of Georgia in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 48 (81%) received a prison term, with a median of 21.5 months, compared with 15.1 months for this offense type across all 94 districts. Restitution was ordered for 56 people (95%).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 59 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.
Trials and Pleas in Tax Cases
50 of the 59 people (85%) pleaded guilty, and 9 were convicted after a trial. Across all 94 districts, 93% of people in this offense type pleaded guilty. For all offenses in the Northern District of Georgia, the figure was 96%.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 20 months. After a trial it was 57 months, based on 9 people. The groups are different in size and are not matched, so the records do not show how much of the difference came from the trial itself.
Every guilty plea had a written plea agreement. None was a straight plea.
Which 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 was §2T1.4, Aiding, Assisting, Procuring, Counseling, or Advising Tax Fraud, with 23.
§2T1.6, Failing to Collect or Truthfully Account for and Pay Over Tax, had 4, and §2T1.9, Conspiracy to Impede, Impair, Obstruct, or Defeat Tax, had 3.
Tax cases were 1% of the 5,362 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 18 were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019, and 41 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025.
Prison Terms
48 people (81%) received a prison term, and 4 (7%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. Across all districts, 66% were sent to prison, so the share was higher here.
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 21.5 months. A quarter received 33.8 months or more, and a quarter received 12 months or less. The median for all offenses in this district was 41 months, which is higher than the tax median.
Below-Range Sentences Without a Government Request
58 people had a guideline range recorded. 24% (14) were sentenced within the range. 33% (19) were below it at the government's request, and 41% (24) were below it without a government request. 2% (1) was above it.
Across all districts, 24% of sentences for this offense type were within the range, the same share as here. For all offenses in this district, the figure was 32%. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 59 people with that information recorded.
Restitution, Fines, and Supervised Release
Restitution was ordered for 56 people (95%), and a fine for 4 (7%). Restitution is money ordered to be paid to make up for a loss. The sheet does not give the amounts.
47 people (80%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 24 months. 88% were in the lowest criminal history category, category I, and 2% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Small Yearly Counts
The yearly count ranged from 2 people in fiscal year 2017 to 14 in fiscal year 2024. The median prison term was 40.5 months in fiscal year 2017, 36 months in fiscal year 2023, and 20 months in fiscal year 2025.
Yearly groups this small do not show a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 7 | 18 months | 3 of 7 |
| 2017 | 2 | 40.5 months | 1 of 2 |
| 2018 | 4 | 15 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2019 | 5 | 28.5 months | 4 of 5 |
| 2020 | 3 | 27.5 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2021 | 6 | 18 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2022 | 6 | 21 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2023 | 5 | 36 months | 4 of 5 |
| 2024 | 14 | 22 months | 86% |
| 2025 | 7 | 20 months | 7 of 7 |
What Cannot Be Learned From the Data
Acquittals and dismissals are not in the Commission data, which counts only people convicted and sentenced. Prison terms are those imposed, not time served.
The sheet does not give tax loss amounts, so it cannot show how the size of the loss related to the sentence.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of Georgia (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Georgia North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Tax" (59). 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 Northern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Northern District of Georgia, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of Georgia, 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.