Ex-school board member admits to tax evasion
A former Hawthorne school board member pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of tax evasion, admitting that he failed to report $400,000 in income from a disc jockey business between 2003 and 2006, authorities said.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge George G. Lomeli sentenced Frank DeSimone to five years’ probation, during which he is forbidden from holding or seeking public office, according to district attorney’s spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons. Prosecutors dropped charges of perjury and filing a false document as part of a plea deal with DeSimone.
DeSimone, 34, was indicted in March after an investigation into whether he had moved to Cypress while serving as a Hawthorne school board member.
In 2006, investigators surreptitiously attached a tracking device to his car. The device caught fire, destroying the vehicle and damaging his wife’s home.
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