The minister who got a $5.4 million state income-tax refund after claiming he earned a quarter of a billion dollars last year says he’s too broke to pay for a lawyer.
Clayton Harris, head of the allegedly fictitious Clayton Harris Ministries, asked Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Laura Visitacion-Lewis if she could appoint a lawyer for him because he can’t afford one right now.
Harris, 43, has been locked up awaiting arraignment since Aug. 16 for allegedly bilking the state out of $5.4 million.
Prosecutors charge he got the massive refund by filing a bogus tax return with a fake W-2 form. He’d spent only $13,000 of his “earnings” before the scam was noticed by a sharp-eyed bank official, prosecutors said.
He’s charged with 32 counts of lying on his tax return and grand larceny. He faces 25 years in prison if convicted.
Harris’ arraignment, scheduled for last week, has been delayed because he didn’t have a lawyer.
He said in court that a lawyer he wanted to hire turned him down when he couldn’t come up with the cash for a retainer.
Harris is due back in court with a Legal Aid lawyer next week.