A plea agreement filed on behalf of former Statesboro City Councilman Will Britt, in which Britt is expected to plead guilty to a federal charge of tax evasion, will be heard in U.S. District Court on April 13.
At the hearing in Statesboro, Chief Judge J. Randall Hill can either accept or reject the terms of the plea arrangement that was agreed upon by Britt and his attorney Michael Classens and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia.
In what is known as an “information,” filed March 2, 2022, the U.S. Attorney listed a series of incidents that occurred between 2014 and 2018 where Britt “willfully attempted to evade and defeat income tax due and owing to the United States of America by him and others.”
Similar to an indictment, an information is a formal charging document that describes the criminal charges against a person and the factual basis for those charges. Unlike an indictment, however, an information does not require a grand jury’s vote.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, defendants often accept prosecution by a federal information instead of a grand jury indictment if the evidence against them appears to be overwhelming and they want to enter plea negotiations immediately. In fact, Britt’s information and plea agreement were both filed on the same day – March 2.
Britt, who was a councilman in Statesboro for 12 years, was first elected in 2003 and served until he declined to run again in 2015. In his final four years on City Council, he served as mayor pro tem.
The details of Britt’s plea agreement will not be made public until the deal is approved by Judge Hill on April 13. However, Classens said the “presumption of the agreement is a plea of guilty” by Britt. He further said that the “terms of the agreement will address the allegations,” but Classens emphasized that only the judge has the authority to accept, or deny, the plea deal reached between Britt and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Classens said Britt would not comment about the charge and the plea arrangement at this time.
Details of allegations
The details in the federal information outline accusations that Britt concealed income from nine separate bars and restaurants in Georgia, including Rude Rudy’s and Rum Runners in Statesboro. Both those establishments are no longer operating.
According to the information filed: “The true owners of the establishments, including (Britt) failed to report to the IRS all of the income they received from the businesses. The Defendant (Britt), along with the other true owners of the establishments, shared in the profits generated by the businesses’ operations by disbursing cash to the partners in accordance with their ownership percentages. The Defendant and others then caused false tax returns to be filed underreporting the income the establishments received.”
Also, the information charges Britt “provided such false information to Accountant A, he caused to be prepared, and signed and caused to be signed, a false and fraudulent IRS Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, for tax year 2014, which was submitted to the IRS.
“The Defendant further knew full well that, by causing false tax returns to be prepared and filed, he enabled the true partners of the bars, including himself, to evade their respective individual income tax liabilities associated with the cash distributions they received, causing a substantial tax due and owing to the United States for the other owners' individual income tax liabilities as well.”
According to U.S. Code, the maximum penalties for tax evasion are not more than five years in prison, not more than a $250,000 fine, not more than three years of supervised release, the costs of prosecution and a $100 special assessment.
Also, though no details have been released, Britt is expected to have to pay all back taxes and penalties he owes to the IRS, as well.
Britt’s history in Statesboro
In February 2017, federal agents seized documents Britt’s home in Statesboro, as well as from a number of businesses across the state. At that time, boxes of unidentified items were taken from his Park Avenue home around the same time agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service were raiding a number of bars to which he was connected in various other Georgia cities.
Britt’s involvement in controversial issues regarding his bars began before he was elected to the council. He owned Legends Bar and Grill on Old Register Road in the late 1990s and was called before City Council then as a bar owner who did not comply with the city’s 50/50 rule, which mandated that all businesses with licenses to serve alcohol provide proof that at least half of their revenue came from food sales.
In 2005, Britt was still the owner of Legends, as well as the Woodin Nikel restaurant or bar, when the city revoked his alcohol licenses for repeated failure to provide reports that the establishments were in compliance with the 50-50 rule.
His establishments were the scene of past violence or controversy, as well.
In 2002, a man was shot and killed at Legends, and in 2005, a man shot two Georgia Southern University basketball players with an SKS rifle at the Statesboro club.
In October 2007, Britt was no longer the owner of the bar once known as Legends, then named Club Jackson by new owner Maurice Jackson, but was present when Julius Issac McReynolds, 19, of Hephzibah, was shot and killed.
Jim Healy may be reached at (912) 489-9402.