‘Jersey Shore’ Star Mike ‘The Situation’ Sorrentino Pleads Guilty to Tax Evasion
Jersey Shore personality Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino has pleaded guilty to tax evasion after failing to pay the IRS on $9 million in earnings between 2010 and 2012, TMZ reports. The reality star now faces a maximum 15 year jail sentence, though he will not be officially sentenced until April 25.
During his hearing in a Newark, New Jersey courthouse on Friday (January 19), the presiding judge agreed to allow Sorrentino to travel to Florida to shoot a Jersey Shore reunion special this year.
In 2017, Sorrentino and his brother, Marc, pleaded not guilty after being indicted for tax evasion and fraud. Federal prosecutors accused the siblings of falsifying tax records on $8.9 million in earnings following a 2014 indictment for other tax-related offenses.
Prosecutors also reported that while working together on "promotional activities," the Sorrentinos had claimed more than $5 million in "false or inflated business expenses," including luxury vehicles and grooming costs, between 2010 and 2012.
E! reports that in 2015, a former accountant pleaded guilty to filing faulty tax returns for the brothers.
Sorrentino starred on MTV's breakout reality series Jersey Shore, which aired between 2009 and 2012.