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# Federal Tax Offense Sentences in the Southern District of West Virginia, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-tax-sentences-southern-district-of-west-virginia/
- Published: 2026-11-04T11:13:49.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T11:13:49.000Z
- Description: In the Southern District of West Virginia, 16 people were sentenced for tax offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and restitution was ordered for all 16 (100%). Of the 16, 12 (75%) received a prison term, with a median of 18 months. Guilty pleas were 94% here.
- 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 Southern District of West Virginia,](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-southern-district-of-west-virginia/) › Tax Offense: Southern District of West Virginia

**In brief:** In the Southern District of West Virginia, 16 people were sentenced for tax offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and restitution was ordered for all 16 (100%). Of the 16, 12 (75%) received a prison term, with a median of 18 months. Guilty pleas were 94% here.

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 16 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/).

## Restitution and Criminal History in Tax Cases

Restitution was ordered for all 16 people (100%). A fine was ordered for 4 (25%). All 16 people were in the lowest criminal history category, category I, and none was in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

Every person who pleaded guilty had a written plea agreement (100%), and none was a straight plea.

## Prison Terms and Probation

Of the 16 people, 12 (75%) received a prison term, and 3 (19%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The median prison term was 18 months. A quarter received 24 months or more, and a quarter received 14.3 months or less. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.

For all 94 districts in the Tax offense type, 66% were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 15.1 months. The share sent to prison was higher here, and the median was higher. The median for all offenses in this district is 42 months, which is higher than the median for tax cases.

## Which Guidelines Applied?

"Tax" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type. In this district, 9 people had §2T1.1 (Tax Evasion) as the primary guideline, and 7 people had §2T1.6 (Failing to Collect or Truthfully Account for and Pay Over Tax).

Tax cases were less than 1% of the 2,416 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. The district sentenced 7 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 9 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025.

## Sentences Against the Guideline Range

The most common position was below the guideline range without a government request, which applied to 8 of 16 sentences (50%). Another 7 (44%) were within the range, and 1 (6%) was below the range at the government's request. None was above the range.

The within-range share of 44% is higher than the 24% for all districts in this offense type. It is lower than the 51% for all offenses in this district.

## Pleas, Trial, and Mandatory Minimums

Of the 16 people, 15 (94%) pleaded guilty and 1 was convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 18 months after a guilty plea. The trial figure is 36 months, based on 1 person, and cannot show a pattern.

Guilty pleas were 93% across all districts in this offense type and 97% for all offenses in this district. No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 16 people (0%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 12 people (75%), with a median term of 36 months.

## Yearly Counts and Limits

The table lists 9 fiscal years, and 4 people is the most in any one year. Most years have 1 person, so each yearly median reflects very few cases and is not a trend. A median of "n/a" means none could be reported.

The Commission data covers only people who were convicted and sentenced. Dismissed or acquitted tax cases are absent, and the records cannot show how often those happened.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 1                | 18 months     | 1 of 1         |
| 2017        | 4                | 22.5 months   | 4 of 4         |
| 2018        | 1                | 15 months     | 1 of 1         |
| 2019        | 1                | n/a           | 1 of 1         |
| 2020        | 2                | 12 months     | 2 of 2         |
| 2021        | 1                | n/a           | 1 of 1         |
| 2023        | 1                | 12 months     | 1 of 1         |
| 2024        | 1                | 24 months     | 1 of 1         |
| 2025        | 4                | 27 months     | 3 of 4         |

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of West Virginia (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "W Virginia South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Tax" (16). 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](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 Southern District of West Virginia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-southern-district-of-west-virginia/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of West Virginia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-southern-district-of-west-virginia/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of West Virginia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-southern-district-of-west-virginia/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of West Virginia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-southern-district-of-west-virginia/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Prison Offense Sentences in the Southern District of West Virginia, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-prison-offenses-sentences-southern-district-of-west-virginia/) (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.