Convicted Tax Foe Held After No-Show

A nationally known anti-tax crusader who ran for California governor in 2002 is being detained by authorities in Riverside after he failed to appear Wednesday for sentencing in Los Angeles federal court on tax fraud charges.

George Henry “Nick” Jesson, 55, of Fountain Valley pleaded guilty last summer to filing a false tax return. He faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, plus $215,454 in restitution for obtaining a fraudulent tax refund.

A federal probation report recently recommended a sentence of 30 to 37 months.

Jesson’s wife, Trina Thi Vu, told federal marshals that her husband left home despondent Wednesday, possibly with a weapon, and “was not coming to court,” Assistant U.S. Atty. Sandra Brown said Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson ordered Jesson’s arrest. Later, the judge learned that Jesson had been taken into custody in Riverside, Brown said.

Jesson’s attorney, Robert Barnes of Malibu, said he was told Jesson had been picked up by Riverside County sheriff’s deputies to “check his mental state” and hadn’t spoken with his client. “When they picked him up, he was despondent due to what he’s facing,” Barnes said. “That’s all I know.”

Jesson finished fourth of seven candidates in the 2002 GOP primary for governor. He ran on an anti-tax platform.

In his guilty plea, Jesson admitted filing a false federal tax return in May 2000, reporting that his Huntington Beach electronics equipment business had paid no wages in 1997.

He actually paid wages of $177,083 that year to himself and $273,236 to his wife, according to the plea agreement.

Jesson and his wife also face state charges. They are to be tried April 3 on six felony counts of failing to pay taxes on $3 million in income from 1997 to 1999.

If convicted on the state charges, Jesson could get nine more years in prison, with seven years for his wife.

Jesson was involved with a national tax protest group that contended the government did not have the authority to collect taxes from paychecks.