A San Diego, California, workers' compensation attorney who is a member of the National Football League Hall of Fame has pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri to one count of filing a false tax return.
According to prosecutors and court documents, Ron Mix entered into an arrangement where he received professional athlete referrals from a non-attorney so Mix and his law firm, the Law Offices of Ron Mix, could file workers' compensation claims in California on the former athletes' behalf.
According to the government, after receiving these referrals, Mix agreed to make donations to Project Contact Africa (“PCA”), as directed by the non-attorney. Mix admitted that between 2010 and 2013, he made approximately $155,000 in donations to PCA and that these payments represented illegal referral payments that he falsely claimed on his personal income tax return as charitable deductions.
U.S. District Court Judge Greg Kays for the Western District of Missouri has not yet scheduled Mix's sentencing. Mix faces a statutory maximum sentence of three years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.
Steven A. Meyerowitz
Steven A. Meyerowitz, a Harvard Law School graduate, is the founder and president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. He may be contacted at [email protected].