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Peter Thomas, the 64-year-old former Real Housewives of Atlanta star, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to tax fraud. The sentence handed down on Thursday, December 18, also includes two years of supervised release and a $2.5 million restitution payment.
Peter Thomas’ Tax Fraud Driven By Greed?
Thomas, the owner of Bar One Restaurants, faced accusations of deliberately neglecting to remit employment taxes for businesses, opting instead to pay nearly $375,000 on travel and ride-sharing services, as well as an additional $250K on high-end luxury goods from prestigious brands such as Neiman Marcus, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Givenchy and more.
The memo reportedly read, “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.”
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The sentencing memo also described the entrepreneur as “motivated by greed,” asserting that Thomas flouted tax laws as he engaged in expansion, hired additional employees, increased overhead, and opened more business locations while disregarding his legal responsibilities.
Thomas’ sentencing follows a report by the Baltimore Banner, which revealed that a federal prosecutor’s memo, dated December 10, sought to justify the prison sentence in his case. In the summer, he pleaded guilty to evading taxes for several of his businesses between 2017 and 2023, specifically failing to pay trust fund taxes.
Peter Thomas Shared A Message Before His Sentencing
The former reality star shared a video on Instagram the day before his sentencing, discussing his decision to plead guilty. Check out the post here:
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“I’ll be making an appearance in the United States government federal courthouse here in Charlotte, North Carolina, to face the music of… consistently withholding taxes for [my] businesses [for] over 10 years,” he told his followers. Peter Thomas explained that he initially thought he could resolve the situation by getting on a payment plan and paying it off, but he realized that it didn’t work that way.
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