Former RHOA star Peter Thomas warns young business owners after pleading guilty to tax evasion.
Peter Thomas, the reality TV star turned restauranteur, has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to tax evasion.
The former “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star, 64, was sentenced Thursday in North Carolina for failing to pay over $2.5 million in employment taxes. In addition to being ordered to pay $2.5 million in restitution to the IRS, the Bar One chain owner will also be subjected to two years of supervised release following his prison sentence.
Thomas, ex-husband of former “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star Cynthia Bailey, pleaded guilty over the summer to one count of failure to pay trust fund taxes after being accused of evading paying the IRS between 2017 and 2023, a local NBC affiliate in Charlotte reported.
According to a memo from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina, between 2017 and 2023, Thomas’ establishments Club One CLT, Sports ONE, Sports ONE CLT, PT Media, Bar One Miami Beach, and Bar One Baltimore failed to pay employment taxes — including over $1.7 million that was taken from employee paychecks.
The former “RHOA” star’s attorney, C. Melissa Owen, who requested a sentence of just one year and one day, said that her client is “incredibly remorseful,” according to court documents.
“He is loved and respected by his community. He is a supportive father and loyal brother and son,” Owen said, adding, “He has used his social media platform to encourage others, in particular, small business owners, to prioritize their obligations to the IRS.”
A day before the sentencing, Thomas said in a video posted to Instagram that he was prepared to “face the music.” He also noted that Wednesday was the 50th anniversary of his arrival in America as an immigrant from Kingston, Jamaica.
“I didn’t think I would be celebrating it quite like this,” he said.
He shared how he hoped to settle this matter through a payment plan, but he learned the hard way: “It doesn’t work like that.”
“Pay your payroll before you pay your rent, because the landlord can evict you. You ain’t gonna go to jail, though,” he continued. “But you will go to jail for not paying your payroll taxes with the United States government.”
In the caption, he wrote, “Public announcement, most people are confused when it come to paying withholding taxes, I am here to set the record straight, yes you will go to jail.”
He added, “You still have to pay the taxes also, jail don’t mean that the taxes is forgiven. All young business owner, please learn [from] my mistake.”
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