Landis, Ex-Dean of Law School, Convicted on Income Tax Charge

James M. Landis, a former Dean of the Harvard Law School who has d high posts in the Federal government pleaded guilty in New York Friday to charges that he failed to file income taxes between 1956 and 1960.

Landis could be sentenced to a year in jail and fined $10,000 on each of the five counts of the indictment. Federal Judge Edward McLean released him in his own custody for sentencing Aug. 30.

The 63-year-old lawyer admitted that he earned $357,927 during the five years cited in the indictment.

Robert M. Morgenthau, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, told reporters that Landis has since "filed returns for the years in question and paid the taxes shown on the returns." He said Landis has paid the government $92,492, about one fourth of which represented penalties and interest, and he praised Landis for offering Federal officials his "full co-operation."

Morgenthau refused to say whether Landis had filed the delinquent returns before or after government action had been taken. He did say, however, that the government does not customarily prosecute tardy taxpayers who have already started paying back taxes.

Landis, a member of the New Deal-Fair Deal wing of the Democratic party, occupied important appointive positions under Presidents Roosevelt and Truman. He was chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, a member of the Federal Trade Commission, and chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board. In 1960, he was an adviser to the then President-elect Kennedy on possible charges in Federal regulatory agencies.

A statement issued in behalf on Landis said that his failure to file the returns was "initially due to the unavailability of information concerning the tax basis of certain securities inherited by the tax-payer some 30 years earlier, which he had sold in order to meet a pressing family need."

The statement went on to say that "subsequently, the taxpayer, being engrossed in public affairs and the affairs of clients, neglected his own personal matters, including the income tax returns." Also, the statement said, Landis delayed filing tax returns for the following four years until he could complete the return for the first year.

Failing to file an income tax return is a misdemeanor. It is not as serious as filing a false return, which is a felony.

Landis could be sentenced to a year in jail and fined $10,000 on each of the five counts of the indictment. Federal Judge Edward McLean released him in his own custody for sentencing Aug. 30.

The 63-year-old lawyer admitted that he earned $357,927 during the five years cited in the indictment.

Robert M. Morgenthau, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, told reporters that Landis has since "filed returns for the years in question and paid the taxes shown on the returns." He said Landis has paid the government $92,492, about one fourth of which represented penalties and interest, and he praised Landis for offering Federal officials his "full co-operation."

Morgenthau refused to say whether Landis had filed the delinquent returns before or after government action had been taken. He did say, however, that the government does not customarily prosecute tardy taxpayers who have already started paying back taxes.

Landis, a member of the New Deal-Fair Deal wing of the Democratic party, occupied important appointive positions under Presidents Roosevelt and Truman. He was chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, a member of the Federal Trade Commission, and chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board. In 1960, he was an adviser to the then President-elect Kennedy on possible charges in Federal regulatory agencies.

A statement issued in behalf on Landis said that his failure to file the returns was "initially due to the unavailability of information concerning the tax basis of certain securities inherited by the tax-payer some 30 years earlier, which he had sold in order to meet a pressing family need."

The statement went on to say that "subsequently, the taxpayer, being engrossed in public affairs and the affairs of clients, neglected his own personal matters, including the income tax returns." Also, the statement said, Landis delayed filing tax returns for the following four years until he could complete the return for the first year.

Failing to file an income tax return is a misdemeanor. It is not as serious as filing a false return, which is a felony.