Last week, “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” ex husband Peter Thomas was sentenced to 18 months in prison for income tax evasion.
Thomas, 64, pled guilty to tax fraud and failure to pay over $2.5 million in employment taxes. Prosecutors say Thomas withheld money from his employee payroll. He then spent the money on plane tickets and ride-sharing services and $250,000 on designer clothes, shoes and other luxury goods.
In addition to serving prison time, Thomas must pay $2.5 million in restitution to the government. His strict post-prison conditions include taking random drug tests and abstaining from alcohol.
Thomas must join a substance abuse testing program during his two years of supervised release and he can’t buy, use, or possess any narcotics or street drugs.
The drug and alcohol testing requirements stem from a DUI arrest in January 2024.
His attorney told TMZ: “Anytime there is an indication that alcohol has contributed to problems in this person’s life, they will offer treatment or monitoring to make sure this person succeeds on probation.”
Thomas took to Instagram after his sentencing to thank his lawyer for doing the best she could to defend him. He also expressed his gratitude to the judge and prosecutor for going easy on him.
“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.”
Thomas also thanked the government for allowing him to get his business affairs in order before he surrenders to prison officials.
