MEDFORD, Ore. (Aug. 21, 2026) — A Jacksonville man who owned and operated three logging and construction companies has been sentenced to 42 months in federal prison for tax evasion, employment tax violations, bank fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, federal prosecutors announced Friday.
Joel Matthew Caswell, 32, was also sentenced to five years of supervised release and ordered to pay $1,198,799.83 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.
According to court documents and statements made in federal court, Caswell operated three logging and construction businesses that employed about 40 people. From 2018 through 2022, he withheld employment taxes from employees’ paychecks but willfully failed to turn those funds over to the IRS.
Prosecutors said Caswell attempted to evade the taxes and other financial obligations by directing customers to make payments to another company or to him personally. He also moved business funds and lied to IRS collection officers, according to court records.
Between 2022 and 2024, Caswell also carried out multiple fraud schemes involving fabricated financial records that he submitted to a bank, a private lender and the Small Business Administration to obtain loans.
Among the fraudulent applications were Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications submitted on behalf of his three logging and construction businesses, prosecutors said.
Caswell also transferred $70,000 in proceeds from the fraud scheme to be used as a deposit for an ultimate frisbee tournament, according to court documents.
In a separate scheme, Caswell used another person’s personal identifying information to obtain a residential mortgage, prosecutors said.
Caswell pleaded guilty June 9, 2026, 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 announced the sentence.
The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation, the FBI and the U.S. Department of the Interior’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 Justice Department’s Criminal Division’s Tax Section are prosecuting the case.
The Justice Department announced April 7 the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division, which focuses on investigating and prosecuting individuals who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars.
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