Woman Gets 6 Months in State Tax Case

Failure to pay at least $120,000 in state taxes has sent a Woodland Hills woman to jail for six months.

Gloria Jean Hines-Loiseau, 48, who ran the now-defunct Pillows, Pearls & Gifts in North Hollywood, surrendered in Van Nuys Municipal Court on Thursday to begin serving her sentence, authorities said. She must also pay all taxes owned the state Employment Development Department and complete three years of probation, authorities said.

At the onset of her trial before Van Nuys Municipal Judge Elizabeth Lippett in December, Hines-Loiseau entered a no-contest plea to two counts each of failure to pay personal income taxes withheld from employees, failure to pay disability insurance withheld from employees and failure to pay unemployment insurance tax, said Deputy City Atty. Don Cocek, who handled the case.

Money was withheld from employees’ paychecks “but it wasn’t going to the state. It was going to Ms. Loiseau,” Cocek said. “She hasn’t paid a dime to the state since May 1996.”

Hines-Loiseau has eight corporations representing various companies and may owe additional taxes to the Employment Development Department, which is conducting an audit of the tax returns she filed, Cocek said.