Derek Chauvin’s wife pleads guilty to tax evasion

Nick Ferraro, Pioneer Press
Updated ·4 min read
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Kellie Chauvin, the ex-wife of the former Minneapolis police officer imprisoned for killing George Floyd, pleaded guilty to felony tax-evasion charges Friday in Washington County District Court.

Derek Chauvin, 46, and his wife, Kellie Chauvin, 48, were charged with nine counts of aiding and abetting tax evasion in July 2020 following an investigation by the Minnesota Department of Revenue and police in Oakdale, where the couple lived.

The charges accuse the couple of underreporting more than $464,000 in income and owing the government nearly $38,000 in taxes, late fees and fraud penalties. They pleaded not guilty to the charges in November 2021.

Kellie Chauvin’s guilty plea to two of the counts came after she reached a deal with the prosecution. As part of the deal, a sentence will be stayed for three years, during which time Chauvin will be on probation. District Judge Sheridan Hawley accepted her plea and set sentencing for May 12.

Kellie Chauvin is represented in the criminal matter by attorney Eric Olson. A Friday night call to his Bloomington office seeking comment on Chauvin’s plea was answered by a man who identified himself as an associate. He said Olson would not comment on the case.

Derek Chauvin is serving a 22½-year prison sentence in Arizona for killing Floyd and violating his civil rights in May 2020. He was scheduled to appear at a remote court hearing Friday, but the prison was unable to get him on video. His hearing is rescheduled to March 17.

The couple married in 2010, and Kellie Chauvin filed for divorce after Floyd’s death. It was finalized in February 2021.

The couple’s criminal conduct allegedly dates back to 2014 and continued into 2019.

The charges allege they failed to file income tax returns with the state of Minnesota for the years 2016, 2017 and 2018, and that they failed to report and pay taxes on tens of thousands of dollars they earned for work outside their primary occupations between 2014 and 2019.

Investigators maintain the couple knew they were breaking the law based on their tax filings from previous years and “multiple correspondences” sent to them by state tax officials in 2019 and 2020.

The couple also reportedly failed to pay sales tax on a vehicle they purchased in the state.

In addition to his full time job as a Minneapolis police officer, Chauvin worked part time as a security guard at a handful of local bars and grocery stores. Kellie Chauvin worked as a real estate agent for Eden Prairie-based RE/MAX Results and operated a photography business.

Although the Chauvins filed tax returns with the Department of Revenue in 2014 and 2015, the couple failed to report income they received from some of Derek Chauvin’s off-duty security work and from Kellie Chauvin’s photography business.

After they were contacted by investigators, the Chauvins filed returns for 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, but they again failed to report this extra income to the Department of Revenue.

During the six years in question, investigators estimate Derek Chauvin earned nearly $96,000 for his security work at the El Nuevo Rodeo bar alone. In Kellie Chauvin’s bank records, investigators found that she had deposited 340 checks from her work for KC Images totaling more than $66,000, the charges say.

In addition to the income tax fraud alleged in the criminal complaints against the Chauvins, prosecutors detail the couple’s 2018 purchase of a BMW automobile for $100,231 from BMW of Minnetonka.

The Chauvins, who also owned a home in Windermere, Fla., listed this property as their primary residence on their contract for purchase with the dealership and registered the vehicle in Florida, the charges say.

During an interview with investigators, Kellie Chauvin admitted their house in Oakdale was the couple’s primary residence, adding that they claimed Florida residency because it saved them about $389 in taxes on the BMW purchase, the charges say.

In a June 2018 interview with the Pioneer Press, before competing as Mrs. Minnesota America 2018, Chauvin said she met her future husband while working at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. She said he brought someone in for a health check before an arrest, and returned and asked her out.

“Under all that uniform, he’s just a softie,” Kellie Chauvin told the newspaper. “He’s such a gentleman. He still opens the door for me, still puts my coat on for me.”

Earlier this month, DailyMail.com caught up with her in a Wisconsin suburb, which was not identified. The media outlet reported that she is “quietly rebuilding her life” and quoted her as saying, “I’ve moved on.” She told the outlet the killing of Floyd “ruined my life. But I’m doing good.”

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