Feds Wants Two Year Sentence in Peter Thomas Tax Case

Six months ago former Real Housewives of Atlanta cast member, Cynthia Bailey's ex husband, Peter Thomas plead guilty to tax evasion charges [click here if you missed that]. 

Now prosecutors want Peter to serve a two year sentence...

From The Baltimore Banner

Restauranteur and former reality TV star Peter Thomas should serve “at least” two years of prison time for his failure to pay millions in taxes withheld from his workers’ paychecks at his restaurants, according to a new sentencing memo from federal prosecutors.

“Thomas’s flagrant violation of his federal payroll tax obligations over many years that served to unjustly enrich his companies and himself by more than $2.5 million and deprive the federal government funds used to provide important retirement and disability benefits to employees” warrants the recommended sentencing, the memo states.

According to the court document filed in North Carolina, between 2017 and 2023, “Thomas caused Club One CLT, Sports ONE, Sports ONE CLT, PT Media, Bar One Miami Beach, and Bar One Baltimore to fail to pay over $2,526,131.99 in employment taxes, including more than $1,740,000 in trust fund taxes from the wages of his employees.”

Instead of paying the employment taxes that were due on behalf of his businesses, the sentencing memo states, Thomas spent just under $375,000 on travel and ride-sharing expenditures and over $250,000 on luxury goods from Neiman Marcus, Prada, Louis Vuitton and Givenchy, among others.

“Thomas, like most tax cheats, was motivated by greed,” the sentencing memo reads. “Thomas defied the tax laws, expanding his business, hiring more employees, increasing overhead and adding more business locations at the expense of his legal obligations. Americans can spend their money as they see fit, including on business ventures. However, they cannot steal other people’s money—in this case their employees’ payroll taxes—to prop up their otherwise failing business ventures.”