topic Re: Apollo Nida pleads guilty as charged in Community Chat

Apollo Nida pleads guilty as charged

shesallthat — Wed, 07 May 2014 00:25:43 GMT

Apollo Nida, the husband of Phaedra Parks, today pled guilty to charges of mail, wire and bank fraud in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
In court, wearing a light-colored plaid jacket, Nida accepted charges that could land him in prison for up to 30 years and a fine of up to $1 million on top of restitution for an estimated $2.3 million he allegedly defrauded various individuals, financial institutions and government agencies. Judge Charles Pannell has set the sentencing hearing for July 8 at 2 p.m.
Nida’s co-conspirator Gayla St. Julien, who said Nida ran the show and helped turn him in after she was arrested in September, 2013, received a sentence of 61 m0nths last month.
Alana Black, the assistant U.S. attorney, told Judge Pannell Nida’s scheme in detail. He opened a fake debt collection agency to gain access to databases full of individual’s personal information. He would then steal people’s ID and find unclaimed funds, refunds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, stolen U.S. treasury checks and refunds from fraudulent U.S. income tax returns.
Nida had St. Julien open UPS mailboxes and bank checking accounts using those fake identities, deposit those checks, then pocket the money.
Later, he created fake auto dealerships and then get auto loans for phantom cars.
The U.S. Secret Service, working with the state consumer protection agency, caught St. Julien first, then was able to procure Nida’s laptop with oodles of evidence that he could not refute.
Nida said in court that he takes “full responsibility for my actions” and expressed regret for hurting his family and any individuals and institutions affected by his fraud. “It was a dumb situation I put myself in,” he said.

He did provide some context for his actions. In 2009, Nida had just left prison after five years for federal racketeering charges related to auto title fraud. He and Parks married and she soon signed on to be part of “Real Housewives of Atlanta.”

He said she was making far more money than him and he felt pressure to keep up. (He cited a $600,000 contract for her but didn’t say how long that was supposed to last.) Without easy legitimate ways to make quick money, he opted for this illegal scheme instead. But he claimed to her he was running a legitimate debt recovery firm and kept her firmly in the dark.
He said he even had a nervous breakdown at one point over the pressures to “sustain a lifestyle” befitting of a reality show star. And once he started the scheme, he found it difficult to stop. “I got sucked in and engulfed and lost sight of things,” he said.

Nida said he often didn’t think about whether this was hurting anybody because he was primarily targeting private businesses and the government, not individuals. And in the case of unclaimed property, what were the odds these folks would ever claim them?
An attempt to open a legal halfway house fell through, he said, because he was on probation for his prior conviction.
“It’s my fault at the end of the day,” he said.
Parks joined the show in 2010 and Nida has been a regular presence.

“The Real Housewives of Atlanta” wrapped its season with a third reunion show this past Sunday, drawing a best-ever reunion rating of 4.3 million viewers. The Porsha Williams “Watch What Happens Live” right afterwards, kept nearly everyone around: 3.9 million viewers.

Parks is expected to be back on the show season seven, which should be starting production soon. Since Nida is not expected to go to prison until July, this storyline will definitely play out in front of the cameras.

Re: Apollo Nida pleads guilty as charged

Photo Donna — Wed, 07 May 2014 00:28:23 GMT

This story was on our local news (Atlanta) tonight.

Re: Apollo Nida pleads guilty as charged

JaneMarple — Wed, 07 May 2014 00:29:51 GMT

This was not unexpected, I read several weeks ago that he would plead guilty. He's not as smart as he thinks he is.

Re: Apollo Nida pleads guilty as charged

bikerbabe — Wed, 07 May 2014 00:30:11 GMT

wow

Re: Apollo Nida pleads guilty as charged

bikerbabe — Wed, 07 May 2014 00:30:52 GMT

Does everyone on these shows have a rap sheet?

Re: Apollo Nida pleads guilty as charged

sunshine45 — Wed, 07 May 2014 01:44:50 GMT

well, we certainly know that THIS wasnt scripted!

if he is heading to jail i will be so curious to see what phaedra will be doing once he is there again. will she stand by her man or will she start divorce proceedings. this will definitely give her a new storyline!

Re: Apollo Nida pleads guilty as charged

missy1 — Wed, 07 May 2014 01:50:24 GMT

I see a spinoff. I could see real prisoner housewives. Juicy and Apollo.

Re: Apollo Nida pleads guilty as charged

SydneyH — Wed, 07 May 2014 01:51:24 GMT

He's such a sleaze, Fakedra is too.......

Re: Apollo Nida pleads guilty as charged

JaneMarple — Wed, 07 May 2014 01:55:00 GMT

On 5/6/2014 sunshine45 said:
well, we certainly know that THIS wasnt scripted!

if he is heading to jail i will be so curious to see what phaedra will be doing once he is there again. will she stand by her man or will she start divorce proceedings. this will definitely give her a new storyline!

Did you happen to see the footage that wasn't used this past Sunday of Apollo and Phaedra after the hotel fight? He called her an A H and said he was leaving her there.

I'm thinking divorce.

Re: Apollo Nida pleads guilty as charged

sunshine45 — Wed, 07 May 2014 01:58:57 GMT

On 5/6/2014 JaneMarple said:
On 5/6/2014 sunshine45 said:
well, we certainly know that THIS wasnt scripted!

if he is heading to jail i will be so curious to see what phaedra will be doing once he is there again. will she stand by her man or will she start divorce proceedings. this will definitely give her a new storyline!

Did you happen to see the footage that wasn't used this past Sunday of Apollo and Phaedra after the hotel fight? He called her an A H and said he was leaving her there.

I'm thinking divorce.

LOL and here i thought that that was just a term of endearment between two people in love....

i wonder if bravo is going to put together an entire hour of that party and air it? i remember they did that with the table flip party that teresa had. they made it into a one hour special and added some of the un-aired footage.

Re: Apollo Nida pleads guilty as charged

Lion — Wed, 07 May 2014 02:16:08 GMT

I feel very bad for Phaedra's sweet little boys.

Why Phaedra would marry Apollo with his record is beyond me, and now he's proven he's a career criminal, a common crook with no conscience or integrity.

She needs to divorce him. It's too bad she gave her boys such an awful father.

Re: Apollo Nida pleads guilty as charged

Lion — Wed, 07 May 2014 02:18:14 GMT

On 5/6/2014 missyw1 said: I see a spinoff. I could see real prisoner housewives. Juicy and Apollo.

You forgot to include Tre.

Re: Apollo Nida pleads guilty as charged

Emma bunting — Wed, 07 May 2014 02:25:09 GMT

What a moron. He had life by the you-know-whats....married to a rich lawyer and business woman...on TV, 2 beautiful little boys.

What a moron.

Re: Apollo Nida pleads guilty as charged

missy1 — Wed, 07 May 2014 02:27:21 GMT

On 5/6/2014 Lion said:
On 5/6/2014 missyw1 said: I see a spinoff. I could see real prisoner housewives. Juicy and Apollo.

You forgot to include Tre.

Maybe Porsha too.

Re: Apollo Nida pleads guilty as charged

JaneMarple — Wed, 07 May 2014 02:35:28 GMT

On 5/6/2014 missyw1 said:
On 5/6/2014 Lion said:
On 5/6/2014 missyw1 said: I see a spinoff. I could see real prisoner housewives. Juicy and Apollo.

You forgot to include Tre.

Maybe Porsha too.

Perhaps you should check out the RHOC, lots of arrests with that cast.

Re: Apollo Nida pleads guilty as charged

gazelle77 — Wed, 07 May 2014 02:37:58 GMT

All I an say WOW! What a waste that such a good looking, very smart person could do such despicable acts....too bad he did not use his talents in a positive LEGAL way as he probably could have turned his life around even with the 5 years he spent in prison. So sad for his two children...as far as Phaedra ....she was probably hard to live with anyway...he was like in prison being married to that "B".

Re: Apollo Nida pleads guilty as charged

missy1 — Wed, 07 May 2014 02:40:36 GMT

I am sure the men love Apollo in prison.

Re: Apollo Nida pleads guilty as charged

JaneMarple — Wed, 07 May 2014 02:45:59 GMT

On 5/6/2014 gazelle77 said: All I an say WOW! What a waste that such a good looking, very smart person could do such despicable acts....too bad he did not use his talents in a positive LEGAL way as he probably could have turned his life around even with the 5 years he spent in prison. So sad for his two children...as far as Phaedra ....she was probably hard to live with anyway...he was like in prison being married to that "B".

Are you blaming his illegal activities on his wife? He's as slick as snot and chose to be a criminal and if he couldn't stand Phaedra then he should have left!

Re: Apollo Nida pleads guilty as charged

missy1 — Wed, 07 May 2014 02:48:30 GMT

I believe Phaedra knew.

Re: Apollo Nida pleads guilty as charged

OC FRESH — Wed, 07 May 2014 02:52:18 GMT

On 5/6/2014 missyw1 said: I believe Phaedra knew.

I think she did too but not all the details. I think she saw him pulling in money and kinda figured it was shady but kept out of his business to protect herself.

He got away with it for a few years and his luck ran out..again.