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The 47-year-old rapper has been incarcerated since January, when his bail was revoked for failed drug tests. Prior to that, the Mount Vernon native who grew up in Yonkers had been confined to his Westchester home after allegedly going out of his way to evade taxes, according to Geoffrey Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Simmons lived near the Bedford border on McLain Street in Mount Kisco with now estranged wife Tashera Simmons before putting the home into foreclosure in 2016 after filing for bankruptcy.
From 2010 through 2016, Berman said Simmons concealed millions of dollars from the IRS and avoided paying $1.7 million in tax liabilities.
According to Berman, from 2010 through 2016, Simmons earned more than $2.3 million, but he idd not file personal income tax returns during that period, instead, orchestrating a scheme to “evade payment of his outstanding tax liabilities, largely by maintaining a cash lifestyle, avoiding the use of a personal bank account, and using the bank accounts of nominees, including his business managers, to pay personal expenses.”
In addition to the year in prison following a guilty plea made on Nov. 30 last year, United States District Judge Jed Rakoff ordered Simmons to pay $2,292,200 in restitution to the IRS and sentenced him to three years of supervised release when his term is over.
“Earl Simmons, the recording artist and performer known as DMX, stole from the American taxpayers when he earned millions of dollars but failed to pay any taxes on his income,” Berman said. “Today’s sentence shows that star power does not entitle people to a free pass. Together with our partners at the IRS, we will vigorously enforce our tax laws to make sure that people pay their fair share.”
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