California comedian Carlos Mencia pleaded not guilty to 12 charges related to his taxes during his first court appearance on Monday.
The funny man stood in front of the judge wearing “Johnny CASH” in large letters as 8 members of his family including his wife Amy came to listen.
The court decided his bail would be reduced from $250,000 to $50,000 after a request from his legal team earlier Monday.
His lawyer told The Post that his client was “very depressed, very nervous” while he was in custody over the long holiday weekend.
They added: “It doesn’t seem… what he did wrong would have warranted what happened here. It seems like it was just too much talk to put him in jail for so long. over a three-day holiday weekend.”
Mencia’s Encino mansion was raided Thursday as part of a new Los Angeles business crime unit hunting suspected tax cheats.
The DA filed 12 charges, including six related to his taxes and six related to his businesses.
Mencia’s brother posted bail and appeared depressed in court when a woman next to him put her hand on his back. The comedian looked at his family once, shook his head and looked down.
Authorities say about $3.3 million in personal profits and $5.4 million in corporate income were not reported by Nedlos Entertainment, Inc., where Mencia is listed as CEO and owner.
LA County DA Nathan Hochman called Mencia one of the “500 biggest tax offenders” after the comedian was accused of evading the books of his $8.7 million fortune over five years.
He said Mencia was issued 78 warnings after the state of California missed an estimated $300,000 in taxes.
A wave of investigators descended on comedian Carlos Mencia’s Encino mansion, where he was arrested, Thursday as police swept through the area, removing boxes, sealed cases, and bags of goods tied up in an intense tax fraud investigation.
Footage from the scene showed a heavy presence of California Franchise Tax Board police, with officers stationed across the street from the front door as they carried evidence containers from the house to waiting vehicles.
Several agents are stationed around the site to control the ongoing removal of materials.
Instead of performing scheduled shows at the Improv in Irvine over the weekend the funny man stayed in jail.
The Irvine Improv posted promotions on its website for Mencia’s appearance at the club around 10 p.m. Thursday, replacing him with comedian Francisco Ramos.
Mencia’s next scheduled appearance at Jimmy Kimmel’s comedy club in Las Vegas was still listed on its website.
He had four scheduled performances in the area on June 24-25 and eight more appearances in July.
The case marks the first prosecution of the Corporate Tax Fraud Unit, which focuses on complex financial crimes involving payroll taxes, fraud, false business records and underground economic schemes.
Hochman said Thursday that Mencia “thought maybe the tax was a joke.” He continued: “We will go after people who have chosen to take advantage of themselves in an inappropriate way.
