Woodridge Theater Owner Sentenced to 5 Years for Tax Evasion

A former Woodridge theater owner was sentenced last week to five years in jail for evading taxes on tickets and other sales at his two theaters, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Ted Bulthaup, 59, of Woodridge was sentenced to time in prison by DuPage County Judge Daniel Guerin, who said that despite Bulthaup’s charitable lifestyle and lack of a criminal record, crimes of this magnitude could not be ignored.

“I don’t think you’re an essentially deceitful or dishonest person, but your actions were deceitful and dishonest,” Guerin said in court.

Bulthaup was ordered to pay back $1 million to the state of Illinois for the taxes he didn’t pay at his Hollywood Boulevard and Hollywood Palms theaters, as well as $2 million for a bank loan he obtained using false information.

Prosecutors from the Illinois attorney general’s office said Bulthaup could have been evading taxes for up to eight years, the Tribune reported.

Assistant Attorney General John Greenwood told the court that Bulthaup had issued a report to theater investors at one point, admitting that in order to keep his theaters open, he had not paid sales taxes.

"But no one came knocking, and I'm not volunteering," Bulthaup wrote.

Greenwood said it was particularly distressing that Bulthaup qualified for a $4 million bank loan that was backed by a state economic development program, funded by state taxes like the ones Bulthaup had evaded.

To not sentence Bulthaup to prison, the prosecutor said, would invite citizens to treat tax obligations as a "catch-me-if-you-can system." Greenwood asked for an eight-year sentence on the sales tax charge and a concurrent seven-year sentence for the bank fraud.

Michael Young, Bulthaup’s attorney, underlined Bulthaup’s charitable nature in court, noting that he hadn’t spent the tax money on himself but rather to keep his theaters in business. He suggested a probationary period in which Bulthaup would not go to jail but would get a job and start repaying the missing money.

The judge, however, said he didn’t believe a sentence of probation was enough punishment for Bulthaup’s crimes. After all, he said, most people find honest solutions to their financial problems.

Before his sentencing at the end of last week, the Tribune reported that Balthaup stood before the judge, looking emotional and accepting responsibility for his actions.

“I’m financially broken,” he said. “I have nothing left.”

Young said that while ultimately Bulthaup was trying to save his business by keeping the tax money, he’d destroyed his career.

“Because of Ted’s actions, he’s lost everything,” Young said.

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