Former restaurateur Thom Pham given probation, house arrest in tax case

Former restaurateur Thom Pham was sentenced this week to five years' probation and a year of house arrest for underreporting taxable sales at a St. Louis Park restaurant in which he had an ownership stake.

Pham, 45, of Plymouth, pleaded guilty in Hennepin County District Court this month to 38 felony counts of filing false tax returns. He admitted to duping the state out of $118,138 in taxable sales and was ordered to pay the state $130,858 in restitution for taxes owed, including penalties and interest.

Pham made a name running his Minneapolis restaurant Azia, at 26th Street and Nicollet Avenue S., for seven years, but struggled to regain the same success with subsequent endeavors, including Wondrous Azian Kitchen in downtown Minneapolis, which closed abruptly in 2012.

Before and during those ventures, Pham owned and operated Thanh Do in St. Louis Park, where the crimes occurred. The state Revenue Department seized records showing that he underreported the sales tax he should have paid on food and beverage sales.

Pham's attorney, Eric Newmark, said Pham no longer has an ownership stake in Thanh Do and does not work in the restaurant business.

Pham entered a straight plea to all of the counts with no deal from the prosecution, Newmark said.

"The most important thing to Thom is taking care of his family, and pleading guilty gave him the best opportunity to take care of his children and his mother," Newmark said.

Pham would have faced the possibility of about two years in prison had he been convicted at trial, his attorney said.

"Even though we thought we had an excellent chance to prevail at trial," Newmark said, "he would likely face time in prison [if he was convicted], and he decided it wasn't worth the risk."

Pham is the sole caretaker for his four children, who range in age from 4 to 7, and his 69-year-old mother who has suffered three strokes, Newmark said.

According to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office: Judge Regina Chu said at Pham's sentencing Tuesday that she wasn't giving him prison time because he was amenable to probation. Chu also said she wanted him to pay the state restitution.

Chu's sentence included a year in the county workhouse that instead will be served via electronic home monitoring. Newmark said Pham would be allowed to leave his house for work and to care for his children.

Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Sarah Stennes argued for at least a year in the workhouse that would not be served via electronic home monitoring. She said Pham had a lengthy history of breaking state tax laws involving his restaurants.

"Sales and use tax is a trust tax," Stennes argued at sentencing. "It is a tax on general retail sales paid by all Minnesotans, and it's the duty of merchants, such as Mr. Pham, to hold those funds in trust until they are remitted to the State of Minnesota. The revenue from sales and use tax benefit all residents of our state in the form of roads, bridges, schools, etc."

Stennes said that "all the citizens of Minnesota" were victimized by Pham's actions.

Pham was charged in 2012 with a felony in connection with $30,000 in bad checks written to a restaurant equipment company. He pleaded guilty and was convicted of a misdemeanor for issuing a bad check.