Rodney King’s lawyer pleads guilty to $2.4 million in back taxes – Daily News

William Grimes, the Los Angeles attorney who won a $3.8 million civil lawsuit on behalf of 1994 police brutality victim Rodney King, pleaded guilty Tuesday, Oct. 29, to more than $2.4 million in back taxes.

Under a plea agreement filed in Los Angeles federal court, Grimes pleaded guilty to one federal count of tax evasion, settling allegations that the attorney failed to pay taxes for nearly a decade.

During a sentencing hearing on February 11, prosecutors said they would recommend no more than one year and 10 months in prison and up to $9.5 million in restitution.

Federal prosecutors said Grimes owed the IRS more than $1.7 million for the 2010 and 2014 tax years. The IRS sought to collect unpaid taxes from Grimes by seizing, among other things, his personal bank accounts.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, from 2014 to 2020, Grimes engaged in a scheme to avoid collection of fees by keeping balances in his personal bank accounts low.

Grimes deposited money he earned from representing clients into his law firm’s bank accounts, then regularly bought cashier’s checks and withdrew cash from those bank accounts, the indictment said.

Grimes allegedly withdrew about $16 million from business accounts in cashier’s checks during those years.

Grimes also filed personal income tax returns for tax years 2018 through 2021, saying he owes about $700,000 in taxes. According to the indictment, Grimes failed to pay the taxes he said he owed.

King, 47, died in June 2012 of accidental drowning.