Wildwood Mayor Pete Byron sentenced to probation in federal tax fraud case

A federal judge Wednesday sentenced Wildwood Mayor Pete Byron to three years’ probation and to pay a fine after pleading guilty to tax fraud charges — calling the Shore town mayor’s submission of false tax returns that omitted $40,000 in income “a serious offense.”

“Let none of us be judged by the worst thing we’ve done,” U.S District Judge Karen M. Williams said in a Camden courtroom as a stoic Byron, 68, stood before her.

Williams also ordered Byron to pay more than $21,000 in fines and restitution, and to seek mental health treatment after Byron told authorities that stress led him to commit the financial crimes.

While apologizing to the judge for his actions, Byron on Wednesday gave no indication that he would step down from his position after the federal conviction.

“I’ll continue to do my job and hold my head up high,” he said.

But the mayor’s legal woes appear far from over. While Byron sat in federal court Wednesday, the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office announced that Byron, along with two other current and former Wildwood officials, had once again been indicted by a grand jury on charges that they allegedly submitted false records to qualify for taxpayer-funded health benefits.

On Wednesday, the Attorney General’s Office said it was also “aware of the federal conviction and ... reviewing the matter.”

In March, Byron pleaded guilty to two federal counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of false and fraudulent personal tax returns during 2017 and 2018 — a time period when Byron also served as city commissioner in charge of Wildwood’s revenue and finance departments.

» READ MORE: The Wildwood mayor has pleaded guilty to federal tax fraud charges

Byron, said Assistant U.S Attorney Thomas S. Kearney, “knowingly and willingly” submitted the false tax returns, noting that the then-longtime Wildwood commissioner wasn’t “some innocent taxpayer who didn’t know the rules.”

In 2017, prosecutors said, Byron began soliciting a managing partner of a Gloucester County law firm for a second job at several public entities.

Soon after, the partner at the law firm — known only as “Individual-1″ in court records — established a new business with the state’s department of treasury, listed as offering “consulting services.” A month later, according to court documents, Byron received an offer letter to do sales work for the newly formed company, inked with the forged signature of Individual-1′s law firm partner.

By September 2018, Byron had received a total of $40,425 in biweekly payments from the consulting company, but failed to file tax returns for 2017 and 2018. When federal investigators questioned his failure to file returns, Byron said he did not have the money to pay his taxes.

But months after the visit from federal law enforcement, prosecutors said Byron “aided and advised” his accountant while preparing tax returns for 2017, 2018, and 2019 that listed his Wildwood commissioner paycheck and other income — but left off his $40,000 salary from the sales job.

Kearney stressed that the omission was deliberate and “not insignificant,” noting that Byron received 21 payments from the undisclosed sales job that equated to nearly 45% of his annual income.

In court Wednesday, Byron told the judge he stood before her “humbled.”

“This is not something that will ever continue,” Byron said. “This last year has been very difficult for my family and I.”

» READ MORE: In Wildwood, the mayor and a commissioner won’t resign despite indictments. People are cheering them on.

Before sentencing, Byron’s lawyer, Thomas J. Young, submitted 29 letters to the judge from Wildwood community members, clergy, charitable organizations and friends, attesting to Byron’s “community service and his reputation,” and expressing fervent support of the mayor in spite of the criminal charges against him.

Byron was elected mayor of the Shore town in 2020 after a widespread campaigning effort. Before that, he served for nearly a decade on the city’s three-member commission.

According to his plea agreement, the Wildwood mayor faced up to six months in federal prison. Kearney stressed that the mayor’s actions should be met with “some consequences,” noting that in their letters, Byron’s supporters said they put their trust in him as mayor.

Weighing Byron’s apology, standing as a public official, and continued community support, Williams said probation and monthly payments toward his fines and restitution were appropriate. Being supervised by federal probation officers is “not truly free,” the judge noted, saying that the mayor is “now accountable to someone who does not love him.”

Byron — a Democrat and Northeast Philadelphia native — has been no stranger to a courtroom lately.

In addition to the federal tax case, Byron, along with city Commissioner Steve Mikulski and former Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr., has been embroiled in state charges alleging the three fudged their timecards to qualify for taxpayer-funded health benefits.

A Cape May County Superior Court judge in June dismissed the case on a procedural issue involving juror attendance during the grand jury presentation. At the time, Byron and Mikulski issued identical statements, saying that “the case never should have been brought in the first place.”

A Wildwood spokesperson Wednesday declined to comment on Byron’s federal sentencing and the reinstated indictment against the mayor.