Current:Home > StocksYoga business founder pleads guilty to tax charge in New York City -GrowthInsight
Yoga business founder pleads guilty to tax charge in New York City
View
Date:2025-04-19 01:01:34
NEW YORK (AP) — An international yoga business founder whose chain of yoga studios promoted themselves as “Yoga to the People” pleaded guilty on Friday to a tax charge in a New York federal court.
Gregory Gumucio, 63, of Colorado, apologized as he admitted not paying over $2.5 million in taxes from 2012 to 2020. He was freed on bail to await a Jan. 16 sentencing by Judge John P. Cronan, who questioned Gumucio during the plea proceeding.
A plea agreement Gumucio reached with prosecutors calls for him to receive a sentence of about five years in prison, the maximum amount of time he could face after pleading guilty to a single count of conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service.
Two other defendants are awaiting trial in the case.
Gumucio’s business, which generated over $20 million in revenue, had operated in about 20 locations in the United States, including in San Francisco, Berkeley and Oakland, California; Tempe, Arizona; Orlando, Florida; and cities in Colorado and Washington. It also operated in studios in Spain and Israel and was seeking to expand to other countries when it closed four years ago.
When Gumucio was arrested two years ago, a prosecutor said he was the living in Cathlamet, Washington, and had been arrested 15 times and had in the past used at least six aliases, three Social Security numbers and claimed three places of birth.
He was eventually freed on $250,000 bail by a magistrate judge who noted that his last previous arrest was in 1992.
In court on Friday, Gumucio acknowledged that he had agreed to pay $2.56 million in restitution, along with interest, to the IRS.
He said he didn’t pay the taxes from 2012 to 2020.
“I apologize for that,” he told Cronan, saying he operated yoga studios in Manhattan’s East Village and elsewhere in the United States during those years.
Under questioning from the judge, Gumucio said yoga teachers were paid in cash, and he didn’t provide them tax forms indicating how much revenue had been taken in.
“I deliberately did not file tax returns to avoid paying taxes,” he said.
He said he was currently living in Colorado, though he did not specify where.
As he left the courthouse, Gumucio kept his head bowed once he realized he was being photographed. He declined to comment.
veryGood! (6)
Related
- NFL Week 15 picks straight up and against spread: Bills, Lions put No. 1 seed hopes on line
- Nonprofit Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana seeks approval for sale to Elevance
- A booming bourbon industry has Kentucky leaders toasting record growth
- 16-year-old suspect in Juneteenth shooting that hurt 6 sent to adult court
- 'Vanderpump Rules' star DJ James Kennedy arrested on domestic violence charges
- Las Vegas mayor says the A's should 'figure out a way to stay in Oakland'
- Q&A: Nolan and Villeneuve on ‘Tenet’ returning to theaters and why ‘Dune 2’ will be shown on film
- Man serving life in prison for 2014 death of Tucson teen faces retrial in killing of 6-year-old girl
- Meet the volunteers risking their lives to deliver Christmas gifts to children in Haiti
- 'Mass chaos': 2 shot, including teen, after suspect opens fire inside Indiana gym
Ranking
- FACT FOCUS: Inspector general’s Jan. 6 report misrepresented as proof of FBI setup
- In His First Year as Governor, Josh Shapiro Forged Alliances With the Natural Gas Industry, Angering Environmentalists Who Once Supported Him
- 'Put the dog back': Georgia family accuses Amazon driver of trying to steal puppy from yard
- Honda recalls 750,000 vehicles in U.S. to replace faulty air bags
- Tom Holland's New Venture Revealed
- In His First Year as Governor, Josh Shapiro Forged Alliances With the Natural Gas Industry, Angering Environmentalists Who Once Supported Him
- Who would succeed King Charles III? Everything to know about British royal line.
- Zendaya Wears Her Most Jaw-Dropping Look Yet During Dune: Part Two Press Tour
Recommendation
Mets have visions of grandeur, and a dynasty, with Juan Soto as major catalyst
Student arrested, no injuries after shots fired at South Carolina State University
Felicity Huffman says her old life 'died' after college admissions scandal
Closed since 1993, Fort Wingate in New Mexico now getting $1.1M for natural resource restoration
The FBI should have done more to collect intelligence before the Capitol riot, watchdog finds
Jennifer Crumbley verdict: After historic trial, jury finds mother of school shooter guilty
Bachelor’s Joey Graziadei Mixes Up Gypsy Rose Blanchard and Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Trump is not immune from prosecution in his 2020 election interference case, US appeals court says