Gosh, I can think of about a hundred smart comments for this one… A porn star goes to prison? But my mother could be reading. So just the facts.
Janine Lindemulder (a/k/a Janine James), a porn star who goes by the clever stage name “Janine”, learned her fate last week stemming from a guilty plea to tax evasion. Janine will spend six months in prison (plus one year of supervised release) after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor count of willfully failing to pay tax.
Janine’s adult film career started out predictably: she was a stripper. She appeared in Penthouse and was named as a Pet of the Month in 1987, eventually being named a runner up as Pet of the Year in 1990. Yet, despite those sterling credentials, she could not make it into mainstream film and television.
In 1992, Janine made her porn debut and eventually secured a contract with Vivid, the most famous of the adult film production companies. She “retired” from the adult film industry in 1999 to become – and I’m not making this up – a kindergarten teacher. She stayed “retired” from the industry until 2004 when she returned to the adult film business. That year, Janine signed a $350,000 contract to perform in more films and did not pay any of the outstanding taxes owed for prior years, despite being aware of the bill. At the time, she owed more than $200,000 in income tax. Part of her sentence includes restitution in the amount of tax due plus penalties and interest, totaling almost $300,000.
Janine claims that her ex-husband, Jesse James (of West Coast Choppers fame), turned her into the IRS following a bitter divorce. James, who left Janine to marry Sandra Bullock, denies the charge and claims that he agreed to a larger divorce settlement so that Janine could pay off her outstanding tax debts. Instead, she used the money to put a down payment on a new home.
The feds in this case recommended prison time due to Janine’s actions during the time that she had the outstanding tax obligations, including her dramatic spending. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Cardani wrote in his pre-sentencing memo, comparing Janine to Wesley Snipes, that, “[w]hile Snipes failed to report far more income than defendant James, her tax defiant conduct is similarly offensive. She has demonstrated an attitude of greed and privilege, and has taken advantage of her status as a high profile figure, while at the same time wantonly ignoring her obligation to pay taxes. A meaningful sentence is necessary to get the message to her and others that no one is beyond the law and they must pay their taxes just like everyone else.”
PS – A word of caution: be careful if you Google this one. You’ve been warned!
(Hat Tip: Phil G from Slacker Manager – thanks, Phil!)
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I for one am appalled that the West Coast Choppers guy left her for Sandra Bullock. Isn’t that punishment enough?
No doubt she will need to hit the job market quickly after her 6 month prison term to pay some bills. I selflessly volunteer my time to supervise her “1 year of supervised leave.”
Right on Mark — but I’ve already been selected for supervisor. However, since a year is a long time, I’d be willing to “time share!” Heck, we could…. oh-oh, this is a tax blog — sorry Kelly — ‘nuf said.
This a good reason we need a flat tax system.