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Following reported suicide attempt, Augusta County businessman's sentencing rescheduled
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Sentencing in a federal tax case for an Augusta County businessman convicted of defrauding the IRS is back on track after a reported suicide attempt last month likely derailed a trip to prison.
Richard Moore, 47, of Fishersville, was indicted in December 2021 on multiple charges, but the government said he continued to bilk the IRS even after being indicted. Moore is the former vice president of Nexus Services Inc., a company that was once headquartered in Verona.
Moore was supposed to be sentenced the morning of May 29 in United States District Court in Harrisonburg. But Moore didn't show after an online post that same day appeared to indicate he was preparing to commit suicide. Court records state he did not attend the hearing "due to a health-related matter."
Sentencing has been rescheduled for July 21, online records show.
In January, Moore pleaded guilty to two counts of tax fraud in federal court after failing to pay the IRS more than $3.1 million in trust fund taxes while he managed the finances at Nexus, where he was also once a part-owner. For numerous quarters, beginning around 2015 and through the first quarter of 2024, Moore withheld tax funds but did not pay them over to the IRS and did not file returns, according to the justice department.
Nexus, hit with an $811 million judgement last year in a federal lawsuit that included Moore and his husband, Mike Donovan, provided bond securitization for immigrants held or released from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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In a sentencing memorandum filed by Trial Attorney William M. Montague of the Justice Department's Tax Division, it states he wants Moore behind bars for a decade.
Montague said the cash that Moore did not turn over to the IRS was used, in part, to fund a lavish lifestyle that included a fleet of several sports sports cars, $322,000 for the band Fall Out Boy to perform at a birthday party, $1 million for a book by his husband that used a ghostwriter, and more than a half-million dollars for his wedding to Donovan. Montague said Moore went through more than $11 million the past decade or so to keep up his lavish lifestyle.
Moore's attorney, Mario Williams, who is seeking a probationary sentence of five years, said his client was overwhelmed by his duties at Nexus. "In 2014, Nexus started to grow at a startling pace. Mr. Moore had no professional training or expertise and managing the financial affairs of the company quickly became more than he could handle," Williams said in his sentencing memorandum. "Simply put, he was way over his head. Allowing that Mr. Moore was ill-equipped to perform increasingly complex financial management is not to excuse him for failing to file returns and pay over tax trust funds in a consistent and lawful manner, but it does explain how the problem snowballed out of control."
Court records show Moore remains free on bond.
Moore is also facing charges in a $426,000 theft case in Augusta County, and will go on trial in September.
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Brad Zinn is the cops, courts and breaking news reporter at The News Leader. Have a news tip? Or something that needs investigating? You can email reporter Brad Zinn (he/him) at bzinn@ You can also follow him on X (formerly Twitter).
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Sentencing hearing set once again for Augusta County businessman
