Former Danville restaurant owner found guilty
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By Denice Thibodeau
Published: May 5, 2008
A former Danville restaurant owner has been convicted of failing to pay more than $9,000 in food and beverage taxes.
Thomas E. Cox, co-owner of the now-closed House of Legends Sports Pub & Grille on South Main Street, was convicted Monday of failing to pay the taxes to the commissioner of revenue’s office for three years — from September 2004 through August 2007.
He was arrested on Aug. 29 and on Oct. 30, Cox pleaded not guilty. The case was scheduled to be tried on Nov. 26. The trial was delayed three times before Monday’s court date.
Cox was found guilty of the misdemeanor charge Monday morning in Danville Circuit Court. He was sentenced to 20 days in jail, but the sentence was delayed for six months.
If he pays all the taxes and penalties — $9,129.98 in taxes plus $913 in penalties — in that time, he will not have to serve the sentence.
At the time of the arrest, the restaurant already had lost its wine, beer and mixed beverage licenses.
In May 2007, the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control revoked the licenses, charging that Cox and the restaurant were “failing to keep complete, accurate and separate records,” and “that the characteristics of the food business conducted upon the licensed premises are such that the establishment ceases to qualify as a ‘restaurant.’”
Cox also is president of Cox & Goodridge Insurance in Danville and sits on the board of Danville-Pittsylvania Community Services.
When reached at his insurance office Monday afternoon, Cox said he had no comment to make on the case or its outcome.
• Contact Denice Thibodeau at dthibodeau@
registerbee.com or (434) 791-7985.
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Reader Reactions
Posted by ( granny ) on May 07, 2008 at 3:54 pm
All he had to do was pay what was due. They would have worked with him. He’s the one who made it a public case.
Posted by ( curious ) on May 06, 2008 at 11:06 pm
I too agree that this should be brought to the attention of fellow citizens. I’m sure he collected the tax from customers, he just failed to pay it. However I do not feel this is as bad as the many people who owe the city past due personal property taxes, some in the tens of thousands that are skating by. I hope we see their picture and a news story on their punishment. I do not feel one is any worse than the other.
Posted by ( duggie789 ) on May 06, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Reporting on failure to pay taxes and shoddy business practices is of interest to us all, especially since this person is involved in other business ventures that might affect you, and also sits on community boards.
You lead by example. You can be robbed on far more with a pen, than with a gun.
And yes, take it from this NYer, these type stories get reported on in big cities quicker than a NY minute.
Posted by ( danvillevillander ) on May 06, 2008 at 10:07 am
He ran into difficulties when he didn’t pay the taxes.
Posted by ( smith ) on May 06, 2008 at 8:47 am
I cannot believe that in a city the size of ours that this story makes the headlines as it does. It must have been a very slow newsday or does our hometown paper pride itself on these types of stories? Over and over I see good citizens of this city who have found themselves in financial difficulty have their stories splashed across the front page headlines like one would think a story on a murder or, heaven forbid, something good that has happened here, would be. Knowing the facts of this story does me or no one else any good. Why do we consider it so newsworthy that it makes the headlines? Why not put all the people who have been arrested last night on the front page with complete details instead of hiding their short arrest notations on a back page as you do? Knowing who in town has been arrested for child abuse or armed robbery would be much more beneficial to the community than to know the details of a businessman who ran into financial difficulties. What a shame that this all we have to read about in our newspaper.