2 hours ago
Carlos Mencia entered a not blameworthy plea coming to taxation evasion charges that could onshore nan comic down bars for complete 11 years if a assemblage finds the Mind of Mencia frontman blameworthy of nan felonies.
Scheduled to beryllium backmost successful Lo Angeles Superior Court connected August 14, nan incarcerated Mencia besides saw his bail dramatically trim to $50,000 astatine nan proceeding earlier Monday successful nan Van Nuys courthouse. Stand-up Mencia, who hosted his ain Comedy Central show from 2005 to 2008, posted bail and was released conscionable nether 2 hours ago,
Back connected June 18, L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hochman‘s agency claimed nan comedian was arrested early that AM “for failing to study $8.7 cardinal successful individual and firm income taxes betwixt taxation years 2019-2024.” Today defense lawyer Dana Cole based on successfully for his CAA-repped client’s reduced bail and return home. Cole besides admitted nan taxation business that started 7 years agone for Mencia was unfortunate, but could beryllium quickly resolved.
“We are grateful that nan judge coming rejected nan District Attorney’s grossly inflated bail petition of $250,000,” Cole told Deadline this afternoon, not agelong aft his customer was heading location pursuing a play and Father’s Day successful nan clink. “Instead, nan judge reduced nan bail to $50,000 and nan judge besides agreed to let Carlos to station a enslaved without having to beryllium nan root of funds, which was thing nan territory lawyer besides requested.”
Cole went connected to say: “Regardless, Carlos is committed to making this correct and paying each taxes owed pinch penalties and interest. We judge that nan District Attorney’s effort to make Carlos nan poster kid of its caller business taxation fraud portion was overreach, and we judge nan tribunal recognized that. We look guardant to resolving this lawsuit successful nan adjacent future.”
Outside tribunal Monday, Cole said erstwhile it came to Mencia’s unpaid taxes, location were “reasons why this happened, which I’m not going to get into.”
Taken into custody astatine his sprawling Encino location by nan cops pinch awesome flourish arsenic nan D.A. revenge nan 12 charges connected June 18, nan 58-year-old Honduran-born comedian was primitively fixed nan $250,000 bail pinch a clasp connected it from nan drop. Usually intended for supplier dealers and different instances wherever nan bail money whitethorn person criminal origins itself, that clasp meant moreover if Mencia had put nan 4th of a cardinal dollars up, he wouldn’t person gotten out.
The very nationalist and large (literally and figuratively) mode of nan arrest, which came aft Mencia had been mailed 78 request notices from nan California Franchise Tax Board, has been a awesome constituent of contention for nan comic and his lawyer since nan cops showed up astatine nan defendant’s doorway past week.
“No 1 argues against nan responsibility to salary taxes, but nan ambush astatine his location pinch aggregate rule enforcement agents, screaming ‘search warrant’ pinch a bullhorn, and drafting guns was an absurd show of unit for nan alleged offenses that do not impact weapons, narcotics aliases violence,” states a filing from Cole for Mencia’s reduced bail.
The bail mobility filing went connected to return a swipe astatine nan D.A.: “The suspect has now already paid a steep value by damaging his nationalist reputation, incarcerating him for respective days without nan opportunity to station bail and missing retired connected 4 nights of a booked venue wherever he could person earned up to $40,000 that he would person willingly paid to nan Franchise Tax Board to commencement to salary backmost immoderate taxes owed.”
This first lawsuit revenge by nan DA office’s recently established Business Tax Fraud Unit alleges nan unsmooth justness of a imaginable much than a decade condemnation kicks successful because antecedently apparently taxes paid successful afloat Mencia not gathering his ineligible and societal obligations complete nan 2019-2024 play costs California “more than 1 100 1000 dollars ($100,000).” To beryllium specific, according to nan D.A.’s office, “Mencia allegedly owes complete $300,000 successful taxes to nan authorities of California: astir $267,594 successful individual income taxes and astir $35,117 successful firm income taxes.”
The D.A’s agency had nary remark erstwhile contacted by Deadline Monday connected nan Mencia proceeding aliases his merchandise connected bail.
