VAN NUYS (CNS) – Comedian Carlos Mencia — who allegedly failed to report $8.7 million in personal and corporate income — pleaded not guilty Monday to a dozen felony tax-related counts.
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge agreed to reduce the 58-year- old entertainer’s bail from $250,000 to the $50,000 requested by defense attorney Dana Cole and to lift a hold that had resulted in Mencia remaining behind bars without being able to post bond since he was arrested at his Encino home last Thursday.
“He hasn’t paid his taxes, which is bad,” the defense lawyer told the judge. “We’re going to fix that.”
His attorney told reporters outside the Van Nuys courthouse that he thought it was “unfair that the DA’s Office put a special hold so that he wasn’t able to post bail over the weekend,” adding that Mencia missed Father’s Day and has been sitting in county jail.
Cole noted that the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office “made a splash” with last Thursday’s announcement of the charges against Mencia, saying that his client would have appeared in court if he had been advised about the case and that “it seems like it was just overkill.”
The defense attorney vowed that “we’re going to make it right,” saying there were “reasons why this happened, which I’m not going to get into.” Cole added that there was “no doubt in my mind” that they will be “able to work out a disposition.”
Mencia is due back in court Aug. 14, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to allow the case against him to proceed to trial.
Mencia — also known as Ned Arnel Holness — is charged with six counts each of failure to file personal income tax with the intent to evade tax and failure to file corporate income tax with the intent to evade tax for allegedly failing to file tax returns for the 2019 to 2024 tax years, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Six of the charges involve his personal taxes, while the other six involve his corporate taxes, District Attorney Nathan Hochman said last week.
Last Thursday, the district attorney called Mencia “one of California’s biggest tax scofflaws,” saying he is “on the California Franchise Tax Board’s list of the 500 greatest tax delinquents in both personal and corporate income categories.”
“In total, the amount of income that he failed to report … between 2019 and 2024, as alleged in the charges is $8.7 million. That translates into over $300,000 of state tax,” the district attorney said, noting that involved about $3.3 million in personal income and approximately $5.4 million in corporate income for his company, Nedlos Entertainment Inc.
Mencia had been sent 78 notices from the Franchise Tax Board warning him that he had failed to file income tax returns for the tax years 2019 to 2024, but did not file those income tax returns, according to Hochman.
The district attorney noted that Mencia “had paid his taxes” before 2019.
Hochman told reporters at a news conference at his downtown Los Angeles headquarters that Mencia said during a 2007 comedy show, “It’s tax day. Maybe I’m different, but I believe taxes are a good thing.” He added that the comedian detailed then how taxes pay for electricity, police and fire services and roads.
If convicted as charged, Mencia could face a maximum of 11 years and four months in state prison, according to the District Attorney’s Office, with Hochman adding that the comedian would also have to pay the unpaid taxes along with interest.
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