‘RHOA’ alum Peter Thomas pleads guilty to tax fraud, gets 18 months in prison

Raymond Boyd/Getty Peter Thomas — Raymond Boyd/Getty

Peter Thomas

Verdict on Peter ThomasA case of tax fraud was considered.

On Thursday, December 18, ex The Real Housewives of Atlanta The 64-year-old star was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to tax fraud, for Conversation in the neighborhood.

After the verdict, Thomas, who is an ex-husband Cynthia Baileywill serve two years of supervised release and pay $2.5 million in restitution.

PEOPLE has reached out to Thomas’ attorney for comment.

*Santiago Felipe/Getty (left) Cynthia Bailey and Peter Thomas*

Thomas will be sentenced later Baltimore banner reported that a federal prosecutor’s memorandum on his case was intended to justify a December 10 prison sentence.

Thomas, owner of Bar One restaurants, was accused of not paying employment taxes for his business, instead spending just under $375,000 on travel and ridesharing services and $250,000 on luxury items from Neiman Marcus, Prada , Louis Vuitton, Givenchy and more.

“Thomas’s flagrant violation of his federal payroll tax obligations over many years, which contributed to the unjust enrichment of his companies and himself by more than $2.5 million and deprived the federal government of funds used to provide important pension benefits and disability benefits to employees,” the memo says.

According to the publication, the sentencing memo said the entrepreneur was “motivated by greed,” adding that “Thomas violated tax laws by expanding his business, hiring more employees, increasing overhead and adding more business locations at the expense of his legal obligations.” Yazan “

In the summer, Thomas also pleaded guilty to trust tax evasion after being accused of evading taxes for several of his companies from 2017 to 2023.

A day before his sentencing, the former reality star shared a message about his decision to plead guilty in a video posted on Instagram.

“I’m going to show up at the United States federal court here in Charlotte, North Carolina to meet the music,” he told his followers. “Music… constant tax withholding for (my) business (for) over 10 years.”

“I thought it was something I could fix if I signed up for this payment plan and paid it off. But it doesn’t work that way,” he added.

Never miss a story – subscribe PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up to date with the best that PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling people-interest stories.

In his caption, Thomas encouraged other small business owners to learn from his mistakes.

“Public announcement, most people are confused when it comes to paying income taxes, I’m here to fix that, yes you will go to jail, (yes) you still have to pay taxes,” he wrote. “Besides, prison does not mean that taxes are forgiven. All young business owners, please learn from my mistake.”

Read the original article at People