Paul Egan

Detroit Free Press

LANSING — The owner of a downtown Ann Arbor sports bar featured on Spike TV's "Bar Rescue" was sentenced to two to five years in prison Wednesday for pocketing more than $700,000 in sales tax collected from customers.

Ingham County Circuit Judge Rosemarie Aquilina also ordered Brian Michael Flore, 53, of Brighton, owner of the Arena, to pay $1.5 million in restitution, Attorney General Bill Schuette said in a news release Thursday.

Flore pleaded guilty in July 2015 to 120 counts of failing to file taxes, the news release said. He was given a delayed sentenced to catch up on the current and past-due sales tax he owed but "did not complete the delayed sentencing requirements," the release said. Aquilina sentenced him to two to five years on each count, to be served concurrently.

Andrew Abood, an East Lansing attorney representing Flore, said Thursday "the sentence was unfair, disproportionate, (and) failed to comply with the criteria established by the Michigan Supreme Court." He had no immediate comment on a possible appeal.

The Arena was featured on "Bar Rescue" in 2015.

The Spike TV cable series works with bars and restaurants across the country to revamp their image, service and place of business.

At the time his bar was featured, Flore, a married father of two, told the Free Press he already had plans to renovate when he got the call from the TV show.

“We’ve been here for 14 years,” Flore said, “and every five to six years, we like to do something dramatic: We’ve painted the place three times, turned an eight-foot bar into a 20-foot bar, but they ('Bar Rescue') did a better job than we could.”

The Treasury Department began investigating the Arena in 2013 on suspicion of failing to turn over to the state sales taxes it collected during a 10-year period.

"Flore confirmed he had not remitted sales taxes to the state and a request was made for the Attorney General’s Office to open the case after Flore failed to cooperate further," the release said.

A state auditor determined the bar made more than $9 million in taxable sales, which resulted in more than $700,000 in back taxes. A 100% fraud penalty and interest was added, leading to the restitution amount.

Abood said Flore "initially mistakenly believed that his paperwork with the state was in compliance" and "had operated his business for close to 10 years without the state ever saying a word to him."

"When he was charged he worked diligently to begin making payments and in fact paid over $150,000 towards the debt that he owed the state," over about eight months, Abood said. "But that simply wasn't enough. He fully accepted responsibility for his obligations" and "both he and his family are devastated."

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.

