SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A Sacramento-area lawyer known for filing non-ADA compliant lawsuits against businesses pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return, Tuesday.
Scott Norris Johnson of Carmichael, who has filed more than 4,000 disability discrimination lawsuits in California, was accused of underreporting the income he earned from those lawsuits.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California, Johnson owned and operated a legal services corporation, Disabled Access Prevents Injury (DAPI), which he used to file the suits where he named himself as plaintiff.
He was required to report the taxable portion of the lawsuit settlements and awards he received, but he underreported his income on tax returns from 2012-14.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California says Johnson and DAPI paid little to no income tax as a result, causing a loss to the IRS of more than $250,000.
Johnson will be sentenced March 7, 2023. He faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison, a period of supervised release, and restitution.
