Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that ERNEST D. DAVIS, the mayor of the City of Mount Vernon, pled guilty in White Plains federal court to failing to file corporate and personal income tax returns. DAVIS surrendered today and entered his plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul E. Davison.

According to the Information and today’s plea proceeding:

In 1988, ERNEST D. DAVIS purchased a rental property located at 14-16 Sandford Boulevard East in Mount Vernon, New York. He held the building through a corporation known as 14-16 Sandford East, Inc. DAVIS admitted that he sold the building in 2003 but he failed to file the required federal corporate income tax return with the Internal Revenue Service on which he should have reported the proceeds of the sale. In addition, DAVIS also failed to report the proceeds of the sale of 14-16 Sandford Blvd. on his 2003 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, Form 1040, which he filed on or about February 1, 2005.

DAVIS also admitted today that he knowingly failed to file a personal federal income tax return for the tax year 2011, when he earned approximately $106,743 in adjusted gross income.

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DAVIS, 76, of Mount Vernon, New York, pled guilty to two counts of willfully failing to file federal income tax returns. He faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison. The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

DAVIS is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Davison at 11a.m. on January 26, 2015.

Mr. Bharara praised the investigative work of the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of the Inspector General.

The case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Perry A. Carbone, Kathryn Martin and James McMahon are in charge of the prosecution.