North Charlotte Today

Peter Anthony Thomas, a 63-year-old businessman from Charlotte, now residing in Miami, Florida, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for a tax offense. The announcement was made by Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. In addition to his prison sentence, Thomas will undergo two years of supervised release and is required to pay $2,526,131.99 as restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). On July 2, 2024, Thomas admitted guilt for failing to account for and remit trust fund taxes owed on behalf of employees at PT Media, LLC for the quarter ending June 30, 2021.

The sentencing was also announced by Donald “Trey” Eakins, Special Agent in Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation's Charlotte Field Office.

Court documents reveal that Thomas owned several businesses including Club One CLT LLC and Sports ONE Inc., among others in Charlotte. He also owned establishments in Florida and Maryland such as Bar One Miami Beach LLC and Bar One Baltimore LLC. As the owner, he was responsible for managing financial affairs and ensuring employment taxes were filed with the IRS.

Between 2017 and 2022, it was found that over $640,000 in trust fund taxes collected from employee wages at his Charlotte businesses were not paid to the IRS. Additionally, between 2021 and 2023 more than $1.1 million collected from employees at Bar One Miami Beach LLC and Bar One Baltimore LLC were similarly withheld from payment to the IRS. Overall, these actions resulted in over $2.5 million in unpaid employment taxes.

Instead of paying these taxes on behalf of his businesses' employees, court records indicate that Thomas used these funds for personal expenditures including cash withdrawals exceeding $2.5 million along with travel expenses amounting to $370,000 as well as real estate purchases and luxury retail spending over $250,000 at stores like Neiman Marcus and Louis Vuitton.

Thomas is expected to report to a federal facility upon designation by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

The case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation while Assistant U.S. Attorney Caryn Finley along with Special Assistant U.S Attorney Eric Frick prosecuted it.