Report: Singer Lauryn Hill Pleads For Court Mercy

Singer Lauryn Hill, a South Orange resident, has allegedly asked a federal judge to show some mercy and not send her to jail after she pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges late last June, claiming the reason she didn’t pay her taxes was because she was receiving threats, a published report said Monday.

Hill pleaded guilty to three counts of failing to file tax returns with the IRS for three calendar years – 2005, 2006 and 2007. Her income during those years totaled more than $1.8 million, according to documents filed in the case and court statements. 

A published report on Entertainmentwise.com Monday quoting TMZ.com said Hill has spent the last few months pleading for mercy from the judge while explaining her reasons for not paying taxes.

Court documents say Hill, 37, stopped paying taxes “when she withdrew from society at large due to what she perceived as manipulation and very real threats to herself and her family,” the report said. Hill did not reveal the exact nature of the threats, the report said.

Hill, who is best known for her work with Wyclef Jean in the group The Fugees, and for her solo recording, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” waived her right to a trial, the report said.

She is scheduled to appear in court on next Monday, April 22, the report said.