Comedian Carlos Mencia faces 12 felony charges for failing to report more than $8M in earnings
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Comedian Carlos Mencia was arrested Thursday and charged with 12 felonies for failing to report or pay taxes on more than $8 million in earnings, prosecutors said.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced the charges at a news conference, calling Mencia “one of California’s biggest tax evaders.”
The 58-year-old stand-up comedian was charged with six felonies for failing to file personal income taxes for the purpose of tax evasion (one count each for 2019-2024) and six similar felonies for corporate taxes.
Mencia owes more than $300,000 in state taxes on income totaling $8.7 million, Hochman said.
He did not enter a plea, and emails sent to his attorney seeking comment were not immediately answered.
Mencia was arrested around 7 a.m. at his home in Los Angeles, authorities said. He remained in custody as of Thursday afternoon and was being held on $250,000 bail. He is expected to appear at his first hearing on Monday. If convicted on all charges, he could face more than 11 years in prison; In addition, tax bills and interest that will almost double the total may also be paid.
The charges are the first filed under the new district attorney’s new Business Tax Fraud Unit, which was founded in May by Hochman, a former longtime prosecutor who worked on tax cases.
Hochman said Mencia paid taxes regularly before 2019. He was sent 78 notices from the state regarding his overdue bills, but there was no response. Fees are subject to state taxes only. Hochman said the IRS did not notify his office of Mencia’s federal tax status.
Ned Arnel Holness was born in Honduras and raised in East Los Angeles. Mencia began performing stand-up in LA clubs in the late 1980s. He became one of the most popular comics in the United States in the early 2000s and has also acted in film and television. From 2005 to 2008, he had his own TV series, “Mind of Mencia,” which combined stand-up with sketches on Comedy Central.
Hochman pointed out at the press conference that Mencia said on the show in 2007, “Maybe I’m different, but I think taxes are a good thing.”
His comedy was mostly about race, class, and Latino culture. His career suffered as many of his fellow comedians faced accusations of joke theft from other comics, which he always denied. Joe RoganBest known at the time as a stand-up comedian, she confronted him on a club stage over the issue in a video that went viral in 2007. Mencia had long discussions on this issue. Marc Maron’s podcast On the alleged plagiarism, he acknowledges that he may have taken other people’s material, but flatly denies theft.
He still regularly organizes stand-up shows, touring clubs and small theatres. He is scheduled to go on a series of dates in Southern California this week and in Las Vegas next week.
