Former US Attorney takes plea in tax-return case, agrees to pay $290K
Once the top federal prosecutor in his state, a Nevada lawyer who made a name for himself pursuing white-collar crime is now awaiting sentencing in a federal misdemeanor case over his failure to file tax returns.
Prosecutors said Lawrence “Larry” Semenza II failed to file individual or corporate returns between 2006 and 2010 while practicing in Las Vegas, reports the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The law firm was organized as a subchapter C personal service corporation.
Semenza pleaded guilty on Thursday to three misdemeanor counts of willful failure to file a tax return. Sentencing is scheduled for December, but he has agreed to repay $290,000 to the Internal Revenue Service as part of the plea deal, the newspaper reports. A KLAS article provides further details.
“Regardless of one’s occupation, job title or position, everyone is responsible for filing and paying taxes on all of their income,” said U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden in a written statement. “It is important that American taxpayers understand and feel confident that everyone is playing by the same rules in filing and paying their taxes.”
The articles don’t include any comment from Semenza or his legal counsel.
He served as U.S. Attorney for Nevada between 1975 and 1977. He was only 32 years old when he was first appointed, making him the youngest U.S. Attorney in the country at that time, the newspaper says.
