Lawyer Admits Not Paying Income Tax for 10 Years

High-profile criminal defense lawyer Anthony Brooklier has admitted that he willfully failed to pay federal income taxes for 10 years.

The delinquency is much longer than was indicated when the Beverly Hills attorney’s tax problems surfaced last month.

Rather than stand trial, he agreed at that time to plead guilty to two misdemeanors stemming from his failure to pay taxes for 1993 and 1994.

Federal prosecutors on Monday released a copy of the plea agreement. It included an acknowledgment by Brooklier that he intentionally failed to pay taxes from 1985 through 1996.

He owes the U.S. government more than $401,000 for that period.

In return for his guilty plea, the government promised not to prosecute him for the other years.

Brooklier, 52, has yet to explain his reasons for not paying his taxes.

“My failure to file was a mistake which I’m taking very seriously,” he said in a statement after his tax problems surfaced. “I’m doing all I can to resolve the problem.”

Brooklier was in federal court Monday, entering a not guilty plea during his arraignment before a federal magistrate. He intends to change his plea to guilty when he appears at the next hearing before U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder, according to his defense lawyer, Donald Re.

Besides having to pay the back taxes and penalties, Brooklier faces up to two years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

The Internal Revenue Service contacted him in 1992 about his failure to file returns, according to the plea agreement. After that meeting, he filed returns for 1985 through 1988 and acknowledged owing the government $57,451 but he never paid the money.

He has not filed income tax returns since then, according to the plea agreement.

Brooklier gained fame in the 1970s when, only a few years out of law school, he defended his father, reputed Mafia boss Dominic Brooklier, against racketeering charges.

His father eventually died in prison, but Brooklier earned a reputation as a consummate litigator. He went on to represent criminal defendants ranging from accused drug dealers to allegedly corrupt politicians and law enforcement officers.

His most recent high-profile client was Heidi Fleiss, who was convicted in federal court on charges of failing to pay income taxes on her earnings from running a call girl service.