Comedian Carlos Mencia, who broke out in the early 2000s with his Comedy Central series “Mind of Mencia,” was arrested Thursday morning in Los Angeles on suspicion of a dozen felony tax evasion counts.
Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman announced the 58-year-old comedian’s arrest during a news conference Thursday afternoon and said Mencia faces 12 criminal tax evasion counts over his failure to submit his state tax returns from 2019 to 2024. Hochman alleged that Mencia, who once spoke favorably about paying taxes during a comedy set in the early aughts, failed to report a total of $8.7 million in earnings from personal income and corporate profits from his NedLos Entertainment company. Mencia is accused of 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.
Hochman said the comic paid his taxes before 2019 and that the California Franchise Tax Board sent more than 70 demand notices regarding his delinquent tax returns. According to the district attorney’s office, Mencia allegedly owes more than $300,000 in taxes to the state.
Mencia’s case is the first to be prosecuted under the district attorney’s new Business Tax Fraud Unit. The district attorney’s office said earlier on Thursday that Hochman would announce the charges in a news conference.
A representative for Mencia declined to comment on Thursday. His arraignment is set for Monday.
Officials confirmed that the Honduran comedian (born Ned Arnel Holness) was arrested around 7 a.m. at his home in Encino and is currently in custody with bail set for $250,000. Hochman said that Mencia, if convicted on all 12 counts, faces more than 10 years in prison and will be required to pay all taxes and interest. Mencia previously faced legal woes over taxes in 2021 when the Internal Revenue Service alleged he and his wife owed more than $1.2 million in federal taxes from 2013 to 2015.
Mencia is best known for his Comedy Central show “Mind of Mencia,” which aired for four seasons from July 2005 to July 2008. The series showcased his irreverent sense of humor, which often included racial stereotypes of various minorities. Mencia notably faced scrutiny among the comedy circle in the early aughts when comic-turned-podcaster Joe Rogan publicly accused Mencia at the Comedy Store of ripping material from other comedians and himself. More than a decade after the scandal, Mencia said in a 2019 interview that he remains firm that his material was his own and revealed the controversy led him to a dark mental space.
“I wanted to blow up my life and start over again,” he said at the time.
Mencia has scores of shows lined up for the summer, including several upcoming sets this week at Irvine Improv. The comedy club did not immediately respond to a call about the status of those shows.