Former Utah film producer charged with tax evasion after occupying an impounded home
The man’s films include “All Dogs Go to Heaven” and “The Land Before Time”.
(Keith Srakocic | AP File Photo) IRS forms in a 2019 photo. A Utah man and former film producer has been indicted on federal charges that allege he failed to pay more than $1 million in taxes.
A Utah man and former film producer has been charged with federal charges alleging that he failed to pay more than $1 million in taxes and “forcibly repossessed” his Cedar Hills home after it was confiscated to to pay off his debts.
According to the indictment, unsealed Aug. 31, Paul Kenneth Cromar did not file a federal income tax return or pay any taxes from 1999 to 2005. Cromar previously operated Blue Moon Productions LLC, a freelance film and media production company, and — under the name Ken Cromar — has a handful of credits, including writing the animated films All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) and The Princess Rises the Pea” (2002); and as production coordinator on “An American Tale” (1986) and “The Land Before Time” (1988).
In 2005, the IRS conducted an audit and assessed Cromar at $703,266.96 in taxes, interest and penalties. In 2019, after failing to make payments on that debt, a federal judge ordered his home to be auctioned and the proceeds used to pay his back taxes. That same year, he and his wife, Barbara Ann Cromar, were evicted from the home, which was then sold.
The indictment alleges that Cromar tried to prevent the sale of his home by submitting forged documents, including a false promissory note; intimidating potential buyers; and harassing IRS employees by filing frivolous lawsuits against them.
The indictment also states that Cromar, a former Cedar Hills City Councilman, broke into his home — along with members of an “armed militia,” according to a related state criminal case — and occupied it for eight months to “fix it”. with guns, sandbags and wooden planks tactically placed throughout the house.”
In 2020, the Cromars were arrested for burglary and wrongful appropriation; They were found guilty in 2022, state court records show.
The federal indictment alleges that Cromar’s total debt to the IRS is now $1,174,201.91. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for tax evasion, three years for corruptly obstructing the IRS and two years for forcibly repossessing confiscated property.
According to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI helped locate and apprehend Cromar, who had been on the run from justice following his 2022 burglary conviction.
