Mike ‘The Situation’ Sorrentino will plead guilty in his tax evasion trial.
Both the Jersey Shore star and his brother/manager Marc were facing up to 20 years after failing to report almost $9million in earnings.
This week the Department of Justice and the US Attorney’s Office in New Jersey filed documents informing the judge about the siblings’ plea, according to The Blast.
Legal troubles: Mike ‘The Situation’ Sorrentino will plead guilty in his tax evasion trial (pictured leaving court in April)
The documents do not specify which from a list of charges the brothers have pled guilty to, including tax evasion, structuring funds and falsifying records.
Nor does it say if they have accepted a plea deal as a result, although this looks likely.
If convicted, Michael faces a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each structuring count and five years in prison for the tax evasion count.
Best brothers: Mike and his longtime girlfriend Lauren Pesce (L, in2015); and brother/manager Marc (R, in 2016) who is also facing charges
List: The documents do not specify which from a list of charges the brothers have pled guilty to, including tax evasion, structuring funds and falsifying records
Marc faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for obstruction. They also face a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.
Both men are also facing a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison on the conspiracy count and three years in prison for each count of aiding in the preparation of false tax returns.
The latest charges were tacked on to the previous charges the men were facing after being accused of not properly paying taxes on the $8.9million they earned between 2010 to 2012, when Mike and the rest of the ‘Jersey Shore’ cast were at the peak of their fame.
Back in the day: The ‘Jersey Shore’ star is (above with the original six cast members in 2010) accused of tax evasion and structuring funds
It is Mike who is charged with tax evasion and structuring funds, while brother Marc adding a falsifying records to obstruct a grand jury investigation charge to his docket.
It was during Mike’s brief period of time gaining a huge amount of fame for the MTV show that he and his brother created businesses, such as MPS Entertainment LLC and Situation Nation Inc, to exploit his celebrity status.
If Mike were to serve time, he would unfortunately miss out on his best change to generate the cash needed to settle the bill, as MTV is set to bring back Jersey Shore this year for a a ‘family vacation’ reunion series.
Bad timing: If Mike were to serve time, he would unfortunately miss out on his best change to generate the cash needed to settle the bill, as MTV is set to bring back Jersey Shore this year for a a ‘family vacation’ reunion series (pictured with Snooki, Pauly D and JWoww pictured on one-off reunion special in August)