Not guilty plea in tax evasion case

A former Hawthorne school board member pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of tax evasion, perjury and filing a false document, authorities said.

Frank DeSimone, 33, was indicted Friday on six felony charges, including allegations that he failed to report $400,000 in income between 2003 and 2006 and lied on a city tax document in 2006 when he claimed he had sold his company.

Los Angeles County prosecutors said the charges grew out of an investigation started in 2005 into whether DeSimone had moved to Cypress while serving as a Hawthorne school board member. In 2006, investigators surreptitiously attached a tracking device to DeSimone’s car. The device caught fire, destroying the vehicle and damaging his wife’s home.

-- Jack Leonard