Joel Caswell faces millions in fines and restitution; negotiations would bring prison time down to 42 months instead of 30 years, Times learns<\/p>\n
More than a year after he was arrested by the FBI and indicted in April 2025<\/a> on 23 felony charges \u2014 including wire fraud, identity theft and tax evasion for defrauding federal pandemic-era programs \u2014 Jacksonville contractor and former Portland Nitro ultimate frisbee team owner Joel Matthew Caswell agreed on Tuesday to plead guilty to one-third of the charges he originally faced.<\/p>\n Caswell\u2019s arrest came after a multi-year investigation following fraudulent applications for pandemic era funds intended to assist small businesses. In addition, other financial dealings included providing fraudulent information on financial applications \u2014 such as a mortgage for his Jacksonville residence \u2014 and failure to pay required taxes and other fees associated with employees for his numerous business holdings, federal prosecutors said.<\/p>\n Caswell, 31, was transported by U.S. Marshals to the plea hearing Tuesday afternoon, appearing in his green jail jumpsuit in U.S. District Court in Medford, where photographs aren\u2019t permitted. <\/p>\n Caswell appeared before Magistrate Judge Mark D. Clarke and spoke very little other than to acknowledge his understanding of the plea deal and that he would be given credit for time served dating back to his August arrest on separate charges involving alleged drive-by shootings in Medford.<\/p>\n According to documents and statements made in court, Caswell has ownership and managing interests in multiple logging and construction businesses that collectively employed approximately 40 employees, according to a release by the U.S. District Attorney\u2019s Office on Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cCaswell was the trustee and a beneficiary of the Caswell Family Trust. From 2018 through 2022, Caswell withheld but failed to pay over trust fund taxes for multiple businesses,\u201d the release said. \u201cIn 2019, these unpaid payroll taxes resulted in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) assessing the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty. To evade the IRS\u2019s ability to collect what was owed, Caswell directed customers to write checks to other companies or him personally, moved business funds, and lied to IRS collection officers.<\/p>\n \u201cSeparately, between 2022 and 2024, Caswell executed multiple fraud schemes in Oregon that involved submitting fabricated financial records to a bank, a private lender, and the Small Business Administration (SBA) to secure loans. Additionally, Caswell used the name, Social Security number, and date of birth of Adult Victim 1 to obtain a residential mortgage,\u201d the release said.<\/p>\n In addition to charges related to his commercial entities, Caswell, who previously owned the Portland Nitro ultimate frisbee team, was also determined to have used about $70,000 of the federal funds he received to rent Providence Park in Portland for the team\u2019s home games. Former players have alleged they weren\u2019t getting paid and were forced to pay for their own hotel rooms and other play-related expenses.<\/p>\n While Caswell officially faces \u201cup to 30 years\u201d in prison, according to the Tuesday U.S. District Court release, legal counsel for both sides during the more than one-hour plea hearing, which the Rogue Valley Times attended, said they would agree to a 42-month prison term.<\/p>\n Based on the original indictment, Caswell faced four felony counts of wire fraud, three counts of tax evasion, one count of aggravated identity theft and 15 counts of failure to collect or truthfully account for and pay over tax. His plea agreement on Tuesday was reduced to eight total counts, including one count of wire fraud, three counts of tax evasion, one count of aggravated identity theft, and two counts of willful failure to pay over employment taxes.<\/p>\n Individually, the counts ranged from five to 30 years of prison time, but legal counsel for the government and for Caswell negotiated the 42-month proposed prison sentence, the Times was told Tuesday. As part of the plea agreement, Caswell also agreed to pay $1,198,799.83 in restitution to the IRS. He also faces a $1 million fine and five years of post-prison supervised release.<\/p>\n Awaiting trial on drive-by shootings<\/p>\n While Caswell was originally granted pre-trial release in the federal case, he has been lodged in Jackson County Jail since Aug. 27, 2025, when he was arrested<\/a> in connection to a pair of shootings<\/a> in northeast Medford. Medford police said the incidents \u2014 to which Caswell later pleaded not guilty<\/a> \u2014 occurred July 26 and 27 in the 3600 block of Carnelian Street.<\/p>\n If Caswell serves a full 42 months on the federal case, for which he\u2019ll be officially sentenced Oct. 9, he could remain in prison until March 2029. However, he awaits trial and eventual sentencing in the shooting case. <\/p>\n