Rapper and Wu-Tang Clan member Method Man was arrested Monday on tax evasion charges stemming from an alleged refusal to pay personal income taxes. Method Man, whose real name is Clifford Smith, has reportedly failed to pay taxes from 2004 to 2007. His tax bill for the period was just $32,799 plus penalties and interest.
That actually begs the question: why an arrest? One of the charges is said to be a felony violation of “repeated failure to file personal income and earnings tax.” Failure to pay is a misdemeanor. And yet, Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan has said the rapper will be “aggressively investigated and prosecuted” if he’s found guilty of the charges.
Is he teaching Method Man a lesson or is there something more?
If you voted something more, you and I are on the same page. A few months ago, the police paid Method Man a visit for, you guessed it, the same thing. In March, the Department of Taxation showed up on Method Man’s door with a number of police officers. At the time, the rapper was said to owe more than $50,000. And he had a great explanation for it:
Because I got high, I forgot to pay. It was stupid. I’m an idiot for that.
The government took his 2008 Lincoln Navigator to satisfy part of his obligations. Method Man insisted that he could have paid had he not been high, declaring, “I got plenty of money!”
Six months later, apparently he hasn’t worked out his tax and “other” issues. And I’m guessing the NY Department of Taxation doesn’t find it very funny quite as funny as he does. He faces up to four years in prison if convicted of the charges.
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And the reason they haven’t arrested the ilks of Charlie Rangel or John Edwards or Jesse Jackson is?
I am with you Jeff – ARREST CHARLIE RANGEL!
Since that will never happen, Where is this guy’s attorney? He or she has to be racking up the billable hours looking up if getting high is an excusable defense.