Two nightclub owners in Prince George’s County have pleaded guilty in a widespread investigation of alcohol sale abuses, licensing violations and tax evasion by county business owners.
Alton Gayle, owner of the Bladensburg club Crossroads, and Chris Everette, owner of Plaza 23 in Temple Hills, pleaded guilty to tax evasion on Sept. 12 following the indictment of several employees at their respective businesses and five other Prince George’s County clubs investigated by the Maryland Comptroller’s Office and the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Having already reached a deal to pay overdue taxes to the comptroller’s office before the indictment, Gayle received a suspended sentence following his guilty plea. He has been making monthly payments on his tax debt and has already paid approximately $26,000, though it is not clear what he owes in total, according to John Erzen, spokesman for Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela Alsobrooks.
If he fails to continue making scheduled payments, prosecutors could seek to impose Gayle’s sentence, which includes five years in jail, a $10,000 fine and five years supervised probation after his release, Erzen said.
Everette, who also pleaded guilty for failing to collect or pay sales and use taxes, received a suspended five-year prison sentence and a $10,000 fine, according to Erzen.
The indictments handed down in May, charging 16 people associated with the seven clubs, were the latest in a series of tactics aimed at dismantling what authorities called “illegal nightclubs” in Prince George’s. The county council passed legislation in 2011 allowing police and county officials to use permitting laws to close clubs associated with violent crimes.
Charges varied wildly, from aggregate theft of more than $100,000 in unpaid taxes at Crossroads to 30 counts of perjury for Everette and a Plaza 23 worker for lying on their liquor license applications.
Cases against owners and employees at five other clubs — Puzzles Event Center in Suitland, De La Swan Event Atrium in Hyattsville, Let’s Chat in Suitland, Black Amethyst in Temple Hills, and CFE Event Center in Forestville — are ongoing.
A case against former CFE Event Center owner Kevin Darby was closed after Darby was found dead in his shuttered club in August.
The bills owed by the nightclubs could easily top $1 million once the investigation is complete, Comptroller Peter Franchot said in May.
