Comedian Carlos Mencia is facing the possibility of spending more than a decade in prison following criminal charges being brought against him Wednesday.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office charged the comedian, whose real name is Ned Arnel Holness, with 12 felony counts of tax evasion. The charges include six felony counts of failure to file personal income tax with the intent to evade tax and six felony counts of failure to file corporate income tax with the intent to evade tax. Prosecutors alleged that Mencia didn’t file any taxes from 2019 to 2024.
“Mr. Mencia has an income most people can only dream of, and like everyone else he is required to file his personal and corporate tax returns and pay his fair share,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said in a statement. “Failing to report millions of dollars in income is a slap in the face to hardworking Californians who diligently file and pay their taxes every year because they care about their communities and the public goods, like police, fire, roads, and utilities, their tax dollars provide.”
Mencia allegedly failed to report approximately $8.7 million in personal income tax and corporate income tax for his company Nedlos Entertainment. Prosecutors said The California Franchise Tax Board mailed Mencia 78 tax demands. Mencia owes more $300,000 in taxes to California, according to prosecutors. Mencia is on the California Franchise Tax Board’s list of top 500 tax delinquencies in the personal and corporate income categories.
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If convicted of all the counts, Mencia could be sentenced to 11 years and four months in prison. The comedian was arrested Thursday, jailed and bail was set at $250,000.