Mel Reynolds Guilty Of Not Filing Taxes For 4 Years In Row

CHICAGO, IL — Former U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds was found guilty Thursday of failing to file income tax returns for four consecutive years, according to the U.S. state's attorney's office. Reynolds, who represented the Illinois' 2nd Congressional District from 1993-95, was convicted on the four misdemeanor counts after he was accused of not filing returns between 2009 and 2012. The verdict was handed down by U.S. District Judge Robert W. Gettleman following the former lawmaker's bench trial in federal court.

A grand jury indicted Reynolds on the tax charges in June of 2015. According to prosecutors, Reynolds earned more than the minimum gross income required to file a tax return, the U.S. attorney's office said in a statement Thursday. Despite that, he "willfully failed" to file returns for four years in a row, federal prosecutors said.

Reynolds faces a maximum sentence of a year in jail and a fine of as much as $250,000. Gettleman will determine a sentence at a future date, the U.S. attorney's office said. Reynolds was sentenced to two months in jail in April of 2016 for two bond violations in connection with his tax case. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for the South Side and Chicago — or other neighborhoods. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

Along with the tax charges, Reynolds has had other legal troubles, stretching back to his time as a congressman in the mid-1990s. In August of 1995, he was convicted on multiple sexual assault and child pornography charges over allegations he had a sexual relationship with a teenage campaign volunteer. Reynolds resigned a little more than a month later, and he was sentenced to five years in prison. Before the '90s were out, Reynolds also faced convictions on multiple counts of bank fraud.

Former U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds (Photo via Patch archive)

Like What You're Reading? Stay Patched In!

• Like our Crime page on Facebook
• Check out the Events Calendar for what’s going on