In the three years the hit MTV show The Jersey Shore ran, it garnered millions of fans; the season four premiere alone saw over 8.78 million viewers as Snooki, JWoww, Pauly D, and ‘The Situation’ entertained the entire country. Now, it seems, ‘The Situation’ is in a situation himself: after pleading guilty to tax evasion in January 2018, the 37-year-old reality TV star is headed to prison.
Mike Sorrentino is the man behind the nickname. One year ago, Sorrentino admitted in a federal court in Newark that he did not pay the full amount of taxes he owed for 2011. According to an indictment, Sorrentino and his older brother, Marc, made approximately $8.9 million from 2010 to 2012; the money came from club and TV appearances, as well as endorsement deals and products they sold off of Mike’s newfound fame. In fact, he went beyond underreporting: he made multiple deposits of $10,000 in order to evade detection by the IRS.
He was ordered to pay $123,000 in restitution and, as of January 15, 2019, was on his way to Otisville, New York to serve an eight-month sentence.
For any who might be concerned about the IRS coming after them for failing to pay their taxes, the government agency is actually much more discerning: though they can (and do) audit business tax returns within three years of filing and collect back taxes owed for up to 10 years, if they find that a mistake has been made, they usually assume it was just that — a mistake. In addition, they don’t criminally pursue people that simply can’t pay their taxes. Purposefully underreporting or concealing information during an audit, however, is a criminal act.
Oddly enough, tax evasion isn’t uncommon among the rich and famous. Millionaire software tycoon John McAfee, creator of the anti-virus software McAfee, recently unleashed a bizarre diatribe against the IRS in a Twitter rant just two weeks before Sorrentino’s trip to Otisville. In a series of tweets, he openly admitted that he has not filed a tax return in eight years and even compared the Internal Revenue Service to Nazis.
Though McAfee’s tirade was eccentric, to say the least, a simple Google News search for “tax evasion” reveals how prevalent the crime is, and all throughout the world. Fortunately, this nation has approximately 1,315,561 lawyers to pick up the slack.
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Dual Income, No Kids launched in the spring of 2006 and is now part of District Media, LLC. With over 10 million visitors and syndication on Google News, District Media delivers high-quality personal finance news and advice. Our 58 blogs inform, empower, educate and entertain the public -- free of charge, with all operating expenses financed by advertising.
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