After being charged with 14 counts of tax evasion earlier this week, Earl Simmons, better known by his rap moniker DMX, turned himself in to New York City authorities on Thursday night (July 13) and subsequently posted $500,000 bail on Friday morning (July 14), according to TMZ. He reportedly needed two co-signers to come up with the money.
A spokesman for the U.S. District Attorney’s Office, Nicholas Biase, said DMX will have travel restrictions that require him to remain in the New York City area. He’ll also undergo strict drug testing and will not be allowed to carry any firearms while on bail.
(The original version of the article was posted on July 13, 2017 and can be found below.)
DMX (real name Earl Simmons) has been slapped with 14 counts of tax evasion (which could add up to decades in prison), according to the U.S. Attorney of the Southern District of New York. A court document says DMX concealed his income between 2002 and 2005, and owes $1.7 million to the IRS. According to the indictment, the veteran rapper earned bundles of money in the early 2000s stemming from multiple hits like “X Gon’ Give It To Ya.”
Prosecutors allege he listed his income in 2011 and 2012 as “unknown,” when he actually made $353,000 and $542,000, respectively. In 2013, he reported an income of $10,000, but according to the feds, he actually earned $250,000 that year.
Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said, “For years, Earl Simmons, the recording artist and performer known as DMX, made millions from his chart-topping songs, concert performances and television shows. But while raking in millions from his songs, including his 2003 hit ‘X Gon’ Give it to Ya,’ DMX didn’t give any of it to the IRS. Far from it, DMX allegedly went out of his way to evade taxes, including by avoiding personal bank accounts, setting up accounts in other’s names and paying personal expenses largely in cash.
“He even allegedly refused to tape the television show ‘Celebrity Couples Therapy’ until a properly issued check he was issued was reissued without withholding any taxes,” Kim continued. “Celebrity rapper or not, all Americans must pay their taxes, and together with our partners at the IRS, we will pursue those who deliberately and criminally evade this basic obligation of citizenship.”
DMX faces 44 years in prison if he’s convicted. This is presumably another trying time in the …And Then There Was X rapper’s life. At a Ruff Ryders reunion concert in April, he appeared out of it as he rambled about “bitches he fucked.” He’s also battled addiction for years.
Imagine having the audacity to want to keep the money you worked hard for. Taxation is theft.
Better not use the roads then.
You think tax money actually goes to the roads? Naw man
Wheres does it go then please elaborate
Look at the reality of the system. Crooked, sick politicians fight to remove funding from education but you see defense spending increasing every year. It’s a rigged game that isn’t meant to benefit humanity as a whole. Modern extortion that uses fear of “terror” to control.
That’s stupid. So the government taxes me to build roads and other things, i say taxation is an immoral system of forcible confiscation and so the things they use tax money to pay for could have far more efficient business model of they used free market principles, and you say i better not use the roads or other things that my tax money helped pay for just because i think the system could be improved if it were funded differently? That doesn’t make sense, that is a cop out argument for lazy Communists who want the government to take care of them, i see it all over the place in “taxation is theft” discussions.
But to be fair, only some forms of tax are technically theft (income tax, capital gains tax, estate tax, etc). Consumption taxes like sales tax are voluntarily given. That just makes your “then don’t ever stand on sidewalks” argument even more convoluted and stupid though.
Exactly.. And America wants to lock you up for petty crime while committing crime themselves. Double standard but God See’s all so we’ll see who actually has the last laugh.
How could anyone sympathize with this guy. Countless times in jail, not being adult enough to seek proper drug treatment, and now not paying his taxes. He’s made so much money in his lifetime that people could only dream of having, but yet he’s above hiring an accountant. As an artist, he is legendary, but that’s only gonna get him so far not taking care of his personal affairs.
Only if you were worried enough about your own life as much as you cared about X’s LMAO log off bruh
100% chance you are poor
Sad situation to such a talented guy one of the greats to ever hold a mic in the rap game and what he is facing happens to many b4 him and many to come after him ,only the super rich know how to hide money over seas off shore bank acct tax shelters
Dude, fuck the government. Does nobody else think it is completely fucking irrational that they basically racketeer us like the mafia to give them a certain percentage of every dollar we earn, just as a fee for living within the arbitrarily drawn boundary that they designate, and it we don’t give them the money we’ve earned in exchange for nothing they force us from our homes at gunpoint and throw us in a jail? A DMX article may not be the place to talk political ideology and philosophy, but 40 years is completely insane. Maybe he should have been more responsible when he actually had money (frankly I’d be surprised if he had as much net worth as i do by now and I’m not anywhere near the highest tax bracket, the way he spends on blow and rock), but it’s a travesty that they can force such severe conferences on people for spending the money they earn how they please. But these idiot Bernie Sanders supporters are like “hell yeah raise taxes, screw rich people, i want the government to force them to pay for my healthcare”. Ok that’s way off topic, but they don’t even realize this is the kind of crap that results from those crazy, idiotic policies.
I wish that I could suck his dick.
X not gon give it to ya
Damn.. X can’t catch a break, can he?
If X goes to prison, he gon’ lose his mind up in there.
I agree, they’re going to make him go all out up in there. Up in there
It might save his Life doing a stint, he needs to Leave the Crack Alone…
Everyone else pays their shit…
Thought he was smarter.. pity… talented Guy
Not trying to be funny but if he owes that much and getting that much time he might as well sell drugs. He’ll do less time if he’s busted…American justice system is straight trash. This is the same country that gave Mike Vick more time for killing dogs than police do for killing a blackman.
Because Dogs lives matter more!!!
That’s because dogs are innocent. Black males commit 35x more crimes respective of their race in comparison to others for the 18-25 age bracket. They are literally as a whole more costly in ‘vetting’ and ‘keeping an eye on’ than all the dogs on the face of the earth to our society, and give back even less in terms of worthwhile existence and companionship.
DMX used to be a hero to me when I was teenager, it’s sad to see him in his current state. But what amazes me is the ridiculous BLM style rhetoric in the comments. He destroyed himself through bad decisions and drugs. So cut the bullshit. At least his first three albums will always have a place in Hip Hop history.
Hez getting charged 4 what 44yrz…. He Neva killed nobody or wateva. Let X alone. Jus give him help. I love dat man as a artist. he’s like JayZ but cracked out but o’well jus keep it real. I’m one of da biggest fan of X. No way hez getting 44 yrz in prison 4 a dumb ass lil crime. C’mon get real wit da system. Much luv and respect to X I love u man. Been a fan since 96/97 7th grade and wen It Dark and Hell is hot joint in May 19th 98 came out. Dat was it. X officially my fave artist of all time along wit the other great artists. DAMN ….
Should have paid his taxes bra… sounds like dude was dodging for years… u think Amerikkka will let u get away with 44 yrs
Even if X never put out another song, I’m still scared he might go under that long. He’s one of my favorites of all time. Damn dude, gotta pay Sam.
It appears to be bad on the front end a good lawyer and X paying out some big money will get him some probation and heavy fines to pay may God help you thru this trouble time
I get that not paying your taxes is bad but Fuck. The man busted his ass from the late 90s to mid 00s. He made something for himself and because he didn’t give the government enough of what he built and earned now they wanna make him spend the rest of his life in a cage? Shit, he didn’t kill anybody. Send the man to rehab, he could rebuild his career, let him work and pay off his debts. Today’s kids may not understand the impact X had in the game but he could easily pay that off over a few years if he made the right moves. You tellin me he couldn’t drop a few more albums? Tour with double R around North America and Europe?
Even like a 90s Def Jam reunion tour would bring in tons of dough. Get like X and Ja, Foxy, Red and Meth, Erick Sermon, Keith Murray and those cats who can still rock the mic to tour, shit would bring in mad cash
He’s on tour right now.. The “Ruff Ryders and Friends” tour, featuring X, Ja Rule and Ashanti, The Lox, and Drag-on.
Which is actually why I’m here, I’m supposed to be seeing him on August 3rd in Atlantic city, so I was searching if he got bailed out..
YO WHEN FEDS PUTTIN PEOPLE IN CAGE TO TAKE THEIR HOMES WE ALL R QUIET?! damn this is disgusting
I don’t give a fuck DMX still my hero.
this what happens when your lips stay wrapped around that glass dick 24/7, you forget to pay taxes and shit.
f feds they hate em & we all know why!!!
He is not the victim nor never has been.
Don’t make his ignorance mine bro…
Take down the banksters / Federal reserve the are the criminals ! Let X alone
its wrong 2 cheat I hate a life of debts. X has been a loyal soldier but at the same wise in his own eyes. u gotta pay a fuckn govt like the amerikkkan one.