United States v. Jasen Harvey

── United States v. Jasen Harvey ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Date: April 28, 2026 Category: NEW USCA11 Case: 24-13995 Document: 51-1 Date Filed: 04/28/2026 Page: 1 of 10 NOT FOR PUBLICATION In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 24-13995 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus JASEN L. HARVEY, Defendant-Appellant. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 6:23-cr-00183-RBD-EJK-2 ____________________ Before JORDAN, NEWSOM, and BRASHER, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Jasen Harvey appeals his 48-month sentence, imposed after he pled guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States. Mr. Har- USCA11 Case: 24-13995 Document: 51-1 Date Filed: 04/28/2026 Page: 2 of 10 2 Opinion of the Court 24-13995 vey argues that his sentence was procedurally unreasonable be- cause the district court failed to adequately consider the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors and failed to sufficiently explain its chosen sen- tence. He also contends that his sentence is substantively unrea- sonable because the court placed excessive weight on his prior vio- lations of court orders, resulting in a sentence that was greater than necessary. After a review of the parties’ arguments and the record, we affirm Mr. Harvey’s sentence. I A federal grand jury charged Mr. Harvey and several code- fendants in a multi-count indictment. The indictment charged Mr. Harvey with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States; nine counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns; and two counts of criminal contempt for violating injunc- tions that had been entered against him in a federal civil case. Mr. Harvey entered into a written plea agreement in which he agreed to plead guilty to Court One of the indictment, which charged him with conspiracy to defraud the United States, in ex- change for the government’s dismissal of the other charges against him. In the plea agreement, Mr. Harvey confirmed that he had prepared and filed false and fraudulent tax returns. These returns requested large tax refunds based on false claims about federal in- come tax withholdings. He also agreed that he had defied a pre- liminary injunction issued on or about February 18, 2020, by con- tinuing to prepare and file over 30 returns for clients of Harveys USCA11 Case: 24-13995 Document: 51-1 Date Filed: 04/28/2026 Page: 3 of 10 24-13995 Opinion of the Court 3 Tax Service, as well as a permanent injunction issued on or about February 24, 2020, by continuing to operate Harveys Tax Service and by preparing and filing at least five returns for clients. The dis- trict court accepted Mr. Harvey’s guilty plea and adjudicated him guilty of Count One. Under the Sentencing Guidelines, Mr. Harvey had an advi- sory guideline range of incarceration of 30 to 37 months. The gov- ernment requested a sentence of 37 months’ imprisonment. Coun- sel for Mr. Harvey, in contrast, asked the district court to