Politics & Government
Oak Forest's Blarney Stone Manager Will Serve Time for Trying to Hide Money from IRS
Tom Spellman III, of Lemont, admits he tried to hide more than $1 million; receives 18-month federal prison term.
He's known in Oak Forest as the friendly face behind the bar at Blarney Stone Pub, but beginning in October, Tom Spellman III will be behind bars of a different sort.
Spellman, a Lemont resident, was sentenced to 1 1/2 years in prison for his part in hiding more than $1 million in cash from the Internal Revenue Service years ago, by depositing it into the bank in small installments, Sun-Times Media reports.
Spellman, 37, said he got mixed up with a bad business partner while living in Virginia. Spellman and Mathieu Reyna, of Virginia, were indicted in July 2009. Spellman is scheduled to report for his prison sentence Oct. 18.
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The Sun-Times Media report said that according to IRS spokeswoman Kerry Lynn Hannigan, Spellman pleaded guilty in March to conspiring to evade reporting requirements, after admitting he conspired with a business associate to break up large cash deposits into chunks under the $10,000 reporting minimum.
Spellman helped bring a craft beer festival to the Blarney Stone, 15400 S. Cicero Ave., this summer.
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