It looks like someone won’t be going to college…
According to the Staten Island Advocate, Clifford Smith, the rapper known to me and you as Method Man, was arrested today (Oct 5.) on tax-evasion charges.
Officials allege that Smith didn’t file New York State Income Tax Returns from 2004 through 2007, failing to pay $32,799 in personal income tax during that time. The 38-year-old faces a charge of repeated failure to file personal income and earnings tax, a felony punishable by up to four years in prison if convicted. He also faces a misdemeanor charge of failure to pay tax.
He was arraigned at Stapleton Criminal Court in Staten Island and was released on his own recognizance.
In the Spring of 2008, New York state tax collectors seized his 2008 Lincoln Navigator from his Staten Island home, amid reports he owes over $50,000 to the government in back taxes. In an interview with the New York Daily News (via Contact Music), Smith cited marijuana consumption as the reason for his troubles.
“Myself, I’m a pothead, he said. “It’s no secret. Everyone knows that. I go on the road and forget everything else. Sure, (the tax department) sent letters to my house saying, ‘We need this money.’ They started sending them in 2002. Here it is, 2009, and I never paid this s**t, because I don’t think like that!”
Smith is due back in court on December 9th.
Of course, as alluded to, in the weeks prior to his court appearance, Method Man is scheduled to take part in Snoop Dogg’s newly announced Wonderland High School tour.
