The Wildwood mayor has pleaded guilty to federal tax fraud charges

Wildwood Mayor Peter J. Byron admitted in federal court to failing to tell the IRS about a second income from a sales job and assisting in committing tax fraud, prosecutors announced Friday.

Before U.S. District Court Judge Karen M. Williams in Camden, Byron, 67, pleaded guilty to two counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of false and fraudulent tax returns to the IRS during 2017 and 2018 — a time when Byron also served as city commissioner in charge of Wildwood’s revenue and finance departments.

In the summer of 2017, according to court documents, Byron sent multiple emails soliciting a managing partner of a Gloucester County law firm for a second job at various companies.

In September of that year, court records say, that partner, who was not named in court documents, established a new business with the New Jersey Department of Treasury, and listed it as offering “consulting services.” A month later, Byron allegedly received an employment offer letter for a sales position from the new consulting business — penned with the forged signature of that person’s law partner.

By September 2018, Byron had received $40,425 from the consulting company, but failed to file tax returns for 2017 and 2018. Byron told federal investigators in 2020 that was because he did not have the money to pay his taxes.

Months after he was interviewed by federal law enforcement, court documents said, Byron “aided and advised” his accountant in preparing tax returns for 2017, 2018, and 2019 that listed his Wildwood commissioner paycheck and other income — but left off his $40,000 salary from the sales job.

Byron faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison on each charge, and a maximum fine of $250,000. He is scheduled for sentencing in August.

A Wildwood spokesperson and Byron’s attorney, Thomas Young, did not immediately return messages seeking comment Friday.

Byron’s plea comes a day after he appeared for a separate case in Cape May County Court, where he pleaded not guilty to submitting false records in order to qualify for state health benefits.

In that case, New Jersey prosecutors allege Byron, Commissioner Steve Mikulski, and former longtime mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. each fudged their timecards for years to make it look as though they were full-time employees in order to collect taxpayer-funded health care.

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That indictment accuses the three men of official misconduct, filing false information, and tampering with public records. Attorneys for all three officials have contended that a 2011 Wildwood resolution declared them full-time employees and eligible for the health program, according to NJ.com.

Eric Shenkus, an attorney with the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender who represents Byron in that case, did not return a request for comment Friday, but previously told NJ.com that Byron “is not guilty, so he is not going to plead guilty.”

“If it takes a trial to prove it, then that’s what we’re going to do,” he said.

Byron, a Democrat and Northeast Philadelphia native, was elected mayor of the iconic Shore town in 2020 after a widespread campaigning effort. Before that, he served for nearly a decade on the city’s three-member commission.