Former Utah movie producer fortified home with guns and sandbags, DOJ says
Dec 26, 2024, 3:22 PM
FILE - The logo for the Justice Department is seen before a news conference at the Department of Justice, Aug. 23, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
CEDAR HILLS, Utah County — The Department of Justice said a former Utah movie producer was sentenced to six years in prison after dodging over $1 million in taxes, then forcibly retaking his house that had been seized to pay his debts.
Officials said Paul Kenneth Cromar owned a home in Cedar Hills and failed to pay any federal taxes between 1999 and 2005. Following an audit, the IRS assessed Cromar with $703,266.96 in taxes and penalties. He didn’t make any payments on that total for more than a decade after, the DOJ said. He also took action to try and stop the IRS from collecting his taxes.
“In 2019, due to this course of conduct, a federal judge ordered that Cromar’s home be sold at auction to satisfy his tax obligations, which by then had ballooned to over $1 million,” the DOJ statement said. “Cromar then attempted to stop the sale by filing false documents on the property’s title and with the IRS, including a false promissory note. He also attempted to intimidate potential purchasers of the home and harassed IRS personnel by filing frivolous lawsuits against them personally.”
The former Utah movie producer, with the help of other people, then broke into the property to try to take it back.
“He occupied the home unlawfully for five months, fortifying it with firearms, sandbags and wooden boards tactically placed throughout the house,” the DOJ said.
Cromar’s sentence came Monday, ordering him to spend six years behind bars followed by three years of supervised release. The DOJ said he’ll also be required to pay $723,028.65 as a condition of his release.
