Jacksonville Man Sentenced to Prison for Tax and Fraud Crimes

Summary

Joel Matthew Caswell, 32, of Jacksonville, Oregon, was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison and 5 years' supervised release and ordered to pay $1,198,799.83 in restitution to the IRS for tax evasion, employment tax crimes, bank fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He ran three logging and construction businesses with approximately 40 employees and, from 2018 through 2022, withheld employment taxes from their pay without paying them over, while steering customer checks elsewhere and lying to IRS collection officers. Between 2022 and 2024 he submitted fabricated financial records to a bank, a private lender and the Small Business Administration, including fraudulent PPP and EIDL applications, and moved $70,000 of the proceeds to a deposit for an ultimate frisbee tournament. He pleaded guilty on June 9, 2026.

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Full text

MEDFORD, Ore.—A Jacksonville, Oregon, man was sentenced today for tax evasion, employment tax crimes, bank fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft. Joel Matthew Caswell, 32, was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison and 5 years’ supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $1,198,799.83 in restitution to the IRS. According to documents and statements made in court, Caswell owned and operated three logging and construction businesses that employed approximately 40 employees. From 2018 through 2022, Caswell withheld employment taxes from his employees’ pay and willfully failed to pay over these taxes to the IRS. Caswell attempted to evade these and other taxes by directing customers to write checks to another company or to him personally, moving business funds and lying to IRS collection officers. Separately, between 2022 and 2024, Caswell executed multiple fraud schemes that involved submitting fabricated financial records to a bank, a private lender, and the Small Business Administration to secure loans. For example, Caswell submitted fraudulent PPP and EIDL applications for these three logging and construction businesses. He transferred $70,000 of the proceeds from his scheme to be used as a deposit for an ultimate frisbee tournament. Caswell also used the personal identifying information of another person to obtain a residential mortgage. On June 9, 2026, Caswell pleaded guilty to three counts of tax evasion, three counts of willful failure to pay over employment taxes, one count of bank fraud, one count of wire fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft. Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division and U.S. Attorney Scott E. Bradford for the District of Oregon made the announcement. This case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation, the FBI and the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management. Assistant U.S. Attorney John C. Brassell of the District of Oregon and Trial Attorney J. Parker Gochenour of the Criminal Division’s Tax Section are prosecuting the case. On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The core mission of the Fraud Division is to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars. Department of Justice efforts to combat fraud support President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

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