Comedian Carlos Mencia has pleaded not guilty to 12 felony charges accusing him of failing to report or pay taxes on more than $8 million in earnings. The 58-year-old Mencia appeared in a Los Angeles County court for his arraignment on Monday, where a judge lowered his bail from $250,000 to $50,000. He had been in custody since his arrest on Thursday.
Court documents state Mencia faces six felony counts of failure to file personal income tax with the intent to evade taxes, one for each year from 2019 to 2024. He also faces six similar counts for corporate taxes. Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman described Mencia as “one of California’s biggest tax scofflaws,” asserting that the comedian owes over $300,000 in state taxes on income totaling $8.7 million.
If convicted on all counts, Mencia could face more than 11 years in prison. These charges mark the first filed by the district attorney's new Business Tax Fraud Unit, established in May by Hochman, a former prosecutor specializing in tax cases.
Mencia, born Ned Arnel Holness in Honduras and raised in East Los Angeles, began his stand-up comedy career in the late 1980s. He rose to national prominence in the early 2000s and also pursued acting roles. His sketch comedy series, “Mind of Mencia,” aired on Comedy Central from 2005 to 2008. He continues to perform stand-up at clubs and theaters, and he missed several recent Southern California shows due to his arrest.