A Las Vegas Strip headlining comic with a star-crossed past has been arrested on suspicion of tax evasion.
Carlos Mencia, who is in residency at Jimmy Kimmel’s Comedy Club, was arrested Thursday morning at his home in Los Angeles. A news release issued by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office Thursday specified the charges.
Court documents show the 58-year-old comedian faces a dozen counts of felony state tax evasion. Mencia is charged with failing to report $8.7 million in personal and corporate income taxes between the tax years of 2019 and 2024.
Mencia is alleged to owe the state of California $300,000. If convicted of all counts, the comic faces 11 years, four months in prison.
Mencia’s arraignment is scheduled for Monday at the Van Nuys, Calif., courthouse. The performer remains in custody. The court set bail at $250,000.
In Thursday’s news release, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said, “Mr. Mencia has an income most people can only dream of, and like everyone else he is required to file his personal and corporate tax returns and pay his fair share. Failing to report millions of dollars in income is a slap in the face to hardworking Californians who diligently file and pay their taxes every year because they care about their communities and the public goods, like police, fire, roads, and utilities, their tax dollars provide.”
Mencia, whose legal name is Ned Arnel Holness, performs on select Wednesdays and Thursdays at Jimmy Kimmel’s Comedy Club. His next scheduled show is June 25. Mencia has performed at JKCC since summer 2025. In 2024, he was featured in a residency production at Harrah’s Showroom.
Damian Costa, whose Pompey Entertainment has booked Mencia at Jimmy Kimmel’s Comedy Club and at Harrah’s, said Thursday he had no comment on Mencia’s arrest. Costa said he was just learning of the case and had not been in contact with the comic.
Prior to his recent residency run, Mencia had performed in several Las Vegas venues on and off the Strip for more than two decades. His resume includes Treasure Island’s Mystere Theater, the “Dirty at 12:30” lineup at South Point’s Grandview Lounge, the since-imploded Laugh Factory at Tropicana, Orleans Showroom and Access Showroom at Aliante.
For a few weeks in 2025, Mencia hosted a late night karaoke hang at The Composers Room at Commercial Center, also a Pompey Entertainment operation.
As he rose to stardom on the “Mind of Mencia” series on Comedy Central, Mencia was accused of plagiarizing large sections of his act. Among the most vocal critics was then-club comic Joe Rogan, who broke Mencia’s set at the Comedy Store on the Sunset Strip in L.A. in 2007, accusing Mencia of being a “joke thief.”
Mencia’s routine about a young athlete calling out, “Hi, Mom!” to TV cameras after scoring a touchdown, though his father had led all of his football training, was especially close to a Bill Cosby bit that ended with the same punchline.
In an interview at Harrah’s in 2024, Mencia said he remained dogged by joke-theft charges. He shared that he deleted social media posts daily accusing him of stealing jokes.
“This has been going on over and over again for the past 15 years, or whatever, 2o years,” Mencia said. “Think about that. I’m not the only comedian that’s ever been accused of stealing jokes, especially in our lifetime. I’m just the one where that s—- stuck.”
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.