Sentencing in a federal tax case for an Augusta County businessman guilty of cheating the IRS is resumed after a reported suicide attempt last month likely postponed a jail sentence.
Richard Moore, 47, of Fishersville, was indicted in December 2021 on various crimes, but the government claims he continued to defraud the IRS even after his indictment. Moore was formerly the vice president of Nexus Services Inc., which had its headquarters in Verona.
Moore was scheduled to be sentenced in Harrisonburg United States District Court on the morning of May 29. Moore did not present, however, after an online post that same day appeared to indicate he was planning suicide. According to court records, he was absent from the hearing “due to a health-related matter.”
The sentencing date has been delayed for July 21, according to online documents.
Moore pleaded guilty to two charges of tax fraud in federal court in January after neglecting to pay the IRS over $3.1 million in trust fund taxes while managing Nexus’ finances, where he was also a part-owner. Moore withheld tax funds for multiple quarters, beginning around 2015 and ending in the first quarter of 2024, but did not pay them to the IRS or file returns, according to the Justice Department.
Nexus, which received a $811 million award last year in a federal case involving Moore and his husband, Mike Donovan, provided bond securitisation for immigrants detained or released by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Trial Attorney William M. Montague of the Justice Department’s Tax Division wrote a sentencing memorandum in which he stated that Moore should be imprisoned for ten years.
Montague claimed Moore used the money he didn’t turn over to the IRS to fund a lavish lifestyle that included a fleet of several sports cars, $322,000 for the band Fall Out Boy to perform at a birthday party, $1 million for his husband’s book, which was ghostwritten, and more than a half-million dollars for his wedding to Donovan. Montague claimed Moore spent more than $11 million over the last decade or more to maintain his opulent lifestyle.
Moore’s attorney, Mario Williams, who is seeking a five-year probationary term, stated that his client was overburdened by his obligations at Nexus. “In 2014, Nexus began to grow at an alarming rate. Mr. Moore lacked professional experience and expertise, and managing the company’s finances quickly became too much for him,” Williams wrote in his sentencing note. “Simply put, he was in over his head. Allowing that Mr. Moore was unprepared to handle more complicated financial management does not excuse him from failing to file forms and pay over tax trust monies in a consistent and lawful manner, but it helps explain how the problem spiralled out of control.”
According to court records, Moore is still free on bond.
Moore is also facing charges in an Augusta County theft case for $426,000, which will be tried in September.
