SHARE

Westchester's DMX Facing Prison Time Following Tax Evasion Guilty Plea

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N.Y. - Westchester native Earl Simmons - more commonly known as DMX - is facing prison time after pleading guilty to tax evasion charges.

Mount Vernon native rapper DMX

Mount Vernon native rapper DMX

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

The 46-year-old Simmons had been confined to his Westchester home after being accused of cheating the government out of $1.7 million in the tax evasion case when he was charged in a 14-count indictment. He pleaded guilty to one count on Thursday and now faces up to five years in prison.

In a statement, acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim said that Simmons failed to pay the IRS for some of his most famous songs.

“For years, Earl Simmons, the recording artist and performer known as DMX, made millions from his chart-topping songs, concert performances and television shows,” he said. “But while raking in millions from his songs, including his 2003 hit ‘X Gon’ Give it to Ya,’ DMX didn’t give any of it to the IRS.”

Kim said that Simmons “allegedly went out of his way to evade taxes, including by avoiding personal bank accounts, setting up accounts in other’s names and paying personal expenses largely in cash.” 

“Celebrity rapper or not, all Americans must pay their taxes, and together with our partners at the IRS, we will pursue those who deliberately and criminally evade this basic obligation of citizenship.”

A Mount Vernon native who grew up in Yonkers, 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.

Simmons tried to conceal his income from the IRS and others, including by filing a false affidavit in U.S. Bankruptcy Court that listed his income as “unknown” for 2011 and 2012, and as $10,000 for 2013, Kim said. In fact, said Kim, Simmons received hundreds of thousands of dollars of income in each of those years.

to follow Daily Voice Mamaroneck and receive free news updates.

SCROLL TO NEXT ARTICLE