The former husband of Real Housewives of Atlanta‘s Cynthia Bailey, Peter Thomas, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison.
The restauranteur failed to pay the government more than $2.5 million in employment taxes. According to reports from The Baltimore Banner, Peter will spend two years on supervised release and was ordered to pay restitution.
The charges:
Peter pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Charlotte, North Carolina, to one count of failure to pay over trust fund taxes back in June.
“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 employment taxes.” That includes “more than $1.7 million that was taken from the paychecks of his workers,” as per reports from federal prosecutors.
One of the seven deadly sins:
Peter was “motivated by greed.” He used the money to “personally enrich himself and to expand and support his other business ventures.”
Attorneys pointed out Peter spent more than $250,000 on “high-end purchases” at stores including “Prada, Louis Vuitton and Givenchy.”
“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.”
Peter will pay the piper:
Cynthia Bailey’s ex-husband is “incredibly remorseful for his failure to pay trust fund taxes,” as per his attorney.
Peter “is loved and respected by his community. He is a supportive father and loyal brother and son. He has used his social media platform to encourage others.”
A PSA courtesy of Peter:
A day ahead of his sentencing, Peter shared a video message to his followers telling them it was time to “face the music” after pleading guilty to the tax charges.
He reflected that it was the 50th anniversary of his arrival to America. “I didn’t think I would be celebrating it quite like this.” Peter hoped to settle the matter through a payment plan, but he learned “it doesn’t work like that.”
Thomas offered a warning to business owners. “Pay your payroll before you pay your rent, because the landlord can evict you, you ain’t gonna go to jail though. But you will go to jail for not paying your payroll taxes with the United States government.”
