Former Chief Public Defender Guilty Of Tax Crimes At Hennepin County Firm: Authorities

HENNEPIN COUNTY, MN — Hennepin County’s former chief public defender pleaded guilty Monday to federal tax crimes, authorities said.

Kassius Orlando Benson ran a law practice in 2013 and from 2015-19, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. During those years, the firm withheld taxes for income, Social Security and Medicare from employees’ wages but did not file returns or pay the withholdings to the Internal Revenue Service, causing the agency to lose about $213,000, authorities said.

Benson, who held the chief public defender role in 2021 and 2022, was initially indicted on 17 counts but struck a deal to plead guilty to one charge, with the remaining 16 to be dismissed, the Star Tribune reported.

"Kassius Benson accepts responsibility for his actions, for which he is deeply remorseful and which will impact him both personally and professionally for years to come,” his legal team said in a statement to the Tribune. “We look forward to presenting the Court at sentencing with a full picture of the remarkable work he has done in this community and elsewhere over the past 25 years."

Benson is set to be sentenced April 23, and faces up to five years in prison as well as supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties, according to the department.