Former 'RHOA' Star Breaks Silence on Tax Fraud Conviction, Prison Sentence

Former Real Housewives of Atlanta star Peter Thomas has spoken out after his guilty plea for tax fraud resulted in an 18-month prison sentence.

The ex-husband of RHOA star Cynthia Bailey, was handed the sentence on December 19, when the television personality was also informed that he will undergo two years of supervised release following his prison stint. Additionally, Thomas, owner of Bar One restaurants, will be required to pay $2.5 million in restitution.

Taking to Instagram after his sentencing, Thomas, 64, expressed gratitude to some of the people involved in his case—including the judge and prosecutor.

"I want to thank Miss [C. Melissa] Owen, my attorney, for doing an incredible job," he said. "I want to thank the prosecutor and the judge because they did an incredible job, and I'm thankful that they're fair people."

"I'm grateful, and I'm [going to] remain grateful, and I'll see you guys soon," Thomas continued, before explaining that authorities are "allowing me to get some of my business affairs done before I have to turn myself in."

He added that his legal situation is "not as bad as what I'm looking at on social media at all," as he described those involved in his case as "fair."

"Again, I'm thanking those people, because those people are beyond nice and those people are beyond fair."

Newsweek has contacted a representative of Thomas via email for comment.

Thomas stood accused of failing to pay employment taxes for his businesses. Instead, prosecutors alleged, he spent almost $375,000 on travel and ride-sharing services and $250,000 on luxury goods from upscale fashion stores and brands.

"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," read a federal prosecutor memo, per The Baltimore Banner.

The sentencing memo further accused Thomas of being "motivated by greed," adding that he "defied the tax laws, expanding his business, hiring more employees, increasing overhead and adding more business locations at the expense of his legal obligations."

Thomas also pled guilty to failing to pay trust fund taxes after the probe into his handling of several of his businesses between 2017 to 2023.

One day before his sentencing, Thomas shared in another video posted to Instagram on Wednesday that he was preparing to "face the music" in a Charlotte, North Carolina, courthouse for "consistently withholding taxes for [my] businesses over 10 years."

"I thought it was something that I could rectify by getting on that payment plan and paying it. But it does work like that," he said.

Captioning the clip, Thomas shared a warning for his followers. "Public announcement, most people are confused when it [comes] to paying withholding taxes, I am here to set the record straight, yes you will go to jail, [yes] you still have to pay the taxes also, jail don't mean that the taxes is forgiven," he wrote. "All young business [owners], please learn for my mistake."