Dan Horsky pleaded guilty to hiding $200Mn from IRS, and will pay at least $124Mn in penalties.

A former client of Credit Suisse who pleaded guilty to hiding $200 million from U.S. tax authorities is at the center of a struggle between the Justice Department, which wants to send a stern message by sending tax cheats to prison, and U.S. judges, who have opted for leniency in past cases.

Dan Horsky, a retired business professor from Rochester, NY, pleaded guilty last November to using secret Swiss bank accounts to hide assets and income from the IRS and NYS tax authorities. Prosecutors urged a judge to send him to prison for 20 months. Horsky’s lawyers said he deserves probation because he helped with a criminal investigation of the bank and will pay at least $124 million in penalties.

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III is set to impose a sentence on Friday in federal court in Alexandria, VA. Dozens of wealthy U.S. tax defendants who used offshore accounts have avoided prison or received terms far below those recommended by advisory guidelines, as judges have consistently ruled against Justice Department prosecutors.

What sets apart tax cheats who use offshore accounts from other felons is often the large checks they write in back taxes, fines and penalties. In Horsky’s case, he’s paying at least $124 million, and could pay more. Prosecutors don’t want that to be a get-out-of-jail-free card.

Federal sentencing guidelines suggest Horsky should get 57 to 71 months in prison. Judges aren’t bound by the guidelines.

Horsky’s lawyers asked the judge to give him probation with 500 hours of community service, perhaps mentoring students. His case is similar to those of 56,000 Americans who avoided prosecution since 2009 by voluntarily disclosing their offshore accounts and paying a combined $10 billion in penalties, they said.