Lawyer Marvin Mitchelson Charged With Tax Fraud

A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted celebrity divorce lawyer Marvin Mitchelson on four counts of filing false income tax returns for the years 1983 to 1986, prosecutors said.

The indictment accuses Hollywood’s premiere divorce attorney of understating his income and overstating his deductions for each of those years, Assistant U.S. Atty. Gary S. Lincenberg said.

Prosecutors allege that although Mitchelson reported gross income of between $1 million and $1.5 million for each of the four years, he only reported net profits of between $179,000 and $266,000 when the figures were substantially higher.

The indictment came as the result of a three-year criminal probe by the Internal Revenue Service, Lincenberg said. If found guilty, Mitchelson faces up to 12 years in prison and a $1-million fine, he said.

A spokeswoman for Mitchelson said on Wednesday that he was unavailable for comment.

However, Mitchelson issued a prepared statement in which he expressed confidence that he will be cleared.

“As a member of the legal system for the last 35 years, I believe in it,” he said. “I know that it works. Therefore, since I know that I am innocent, I am confident that I will be completely exonerated.”

Mitchelson, who has an office in Century City, has gained notoriety over the years by representing numerous celebrities. He first attracted international attention in 1964 after taking the divorce case of Pamela Mason, wife of British actor James Mason. When he took the case, she was suing Mason for $1 million, an unheard of amount at the time. Mitchelson helped her win a $2-million settlement.

His celebrity clients have included the ex-wife of jet-setting arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, Bob Dylan’s ex-wife, Sarah; Sonny Bono, Connie Stevens, Roxanne Pulitzer, Rock Hudson’s lover Marc Christian and the woman whose case created the word palimony , Michelle Triola Marvin.

Mitchelson’s tax problems mark the latest in a string of legal troubles he has experienced over the years.

In 1988, two women accused him of rape. However, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, the state attorney general and the county grand jury all declined to prosecute, citing a lack of evidence.

Earlier, a former secretary told the district attorney and State Bar investigators that during the time she worked for him, from 1973 to 1978, Mitchelson was a habitual user of cocaine and the narcotic pain reliever Percodan.

More recently, Mitchelson was forced to defend himself against several counts of alleged misconduct that included charging what the State Bar called “unconscionable fees.”