APOLLO NIDA PLEADS GUILTY TO MAIL, WIRE & BANK FRAUD...READ FULL PRESS RELEASE

Well he will no longer have to worry about storyline since he will be watching from behind bars.  According to an inditment that was handed down yesterday. Real Housewives of Atlanta cast member Apollo Nida pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit mail, wire and bank fraud. Nida is heading back to prison.

Last month, a federal judge sentenced Nida’s female accomplice, Gayla St. Julien, to 5 years and 1 month in a federal prison.

In his court appearance today, Apollo blamed himself for his legal troubles. “It was a dumb situation I put myself in,” he said.

Apollo left prison in 2009 after serving 5 years on federal racketeering charges connected with an auto theft ring. He married local attorney Phaedra Parks, who was cast in the reality series Real Housewives of Atlanta that same year.

Nida said Phaedra’s reality show paycheck ($600,000) put pressure on him to keep up with her because she was making more money than him. He claimed he told Phaedra that his income was derived from his legitimate debt recovery business. He claims he kept her in the dark about his illegal side hustles.

Apollo said he didn’t think about whether he was hurting anybody because he was ripping off banks and federal institutions, not individuals.

“It’s my fault at the end of the day,” he said. “I got sucked in and engulfed and lost sight of things.” Apollo will be sentenced in July.

Here is the press release announcing Apollo Nida’s guilty plea from the Justice.gov website:

Apollo E. Nida has pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit mail, wire and bank fraud in a complex scheme spanning over four years, harming over 50 victims, and causing over $2.3 million in losses.

“This defendant participated in a sweeping fraud scheme that exploited many segments of the financial system, including phony claims submitted to federal and state agencies, loans secured by vehicles, and even basic identity theft associated with stolen checks,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates. “The extensive nature of the fraud is unfortunate and breathtaking. Prosecutions like this case help to highlight the vulnerabilities in the financial system, so that we can prevent future schemes and protect our citizens and government agencies from theft like this.”

“Nida and his conspirators were conniving and creative in their scheme to steal victims’ identities and defraud them. The United States Secret Service will continue to adapt its investigative methodologies to arrest criminals who use their technological savvy to violate unsuspecting victims such as those in this case,” said Reginald G. Moore, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service, Atlanta Field Office.

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