A cast member of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, who pleaded guilty in July to charges he created two fake collection agencies, reportedly turned himself in to federal authorities Thursday - a day after he was required to do so - to begin an eight-year prison sentence.
Apollo Nida was convicted of money laundering and check fraud after creating the phony firms as a front for identity theft. He was arrested in January for a fraud scheme that federal prosecutors said stole millions of dollars from at least 50 people over four years. At sentencing, he was ordered to repay an estimated $1.9 million he stole from consumers and financial institutions.
He reportedly used his victims' information to secure fraudulent auto loans and also admitted to stealing U.S. Treasury checks and Delta Airlines retirement checks. He was ordered to serve five years under parole supervision after completing eight years in a federal prison, U.S. District Court Judge Charles A. Pannell Jr. said at sentencing.
Nida, 35, appears on the reality TV show with his wife Phaedra Parks. According to CNN, Nida skipped Wednesday's noon deadline to report to minimum security prison in Lexington, Ky. and instead drove to Parks' house to confront her for not placing funds in his prison account and for changing the locks to the house.
The confrontation reportedly was captured by television cameras for the show, raising the prospect that Nida's tardiness was simply a publicity stunt.
