Comedian Carlos Mencia Arrested on State Tax Evasion Charges

Comedian Carlos Mencia was arrested at his Los Angeles home Thursday morning and charged with 12 felony counts of failing to file or pay state income taxes on earnings totaling $8.7 million, prosecutors said. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced the charges at a news conference and described Mencia as one of California’s biggest tax scofflaws.

The 58-year-old performer faces six counts related to personal income taxes and six counts related to corporate taxes covering the years 2019 to 2024.

Mencia owes more than $300,000 in state taxes, Hochman said. If convicted on all counts, he could face more than 11 years in prison plus repayment of the taxes and interest that would nearly double the amount owed. Mencia has not entered a plea. Emails seeking comment from his attorney were not immediately answered.

He remained in custody Thursday afternoon on $250,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court Monday.

Mencia regularly paid taxes before 2019, Hochman said, but received 78 notices from the state about delinquent bills without responding. The charges involve only state taxes; the district attorney said the IRS has not informed his office of Mencia’s federal tax status.

Born Ned Arnel Holness in Honduras and raised in East Los Angeles, Mencia began performing stand-up in Los Angeles clubs in the late 1980s. He gained national prominence in the early 2000s and starred in the Comedy Central series “Mind of Mencia” from 2005 to 2008.

The charges mark the first filed by Hochman’s new Business Tax Fraud Unit, established in May. ” Mencia continues to perform stand-up and is scheduled for dates in Southern California this week and Las Vegas next week. His career faced setbacks after accusations of joke theft from fellow comedians, which he has denied.