A Cabarrus County businessman pleaded guilty Monday in Wake County Superior Court to a felony tax charge filed by the North Carolina Department of Revenue.

Phillip Aundria Little, 56, of 4632 Delrae Circle, Concord pleaded guilty on September 14, 2020 to one count of Embezzlement of State Property.

Wake County Superior Court Judge Keith Gregory sentenced Little to a 16-month minimum, 29-month maximum prison term. The sentence was suspended and Little was placed on supervised probation for 36 months.  As a condition of probation, Little was ordered to serve 90 days in the custody of the Cabarrus County Detention Center.  Little paid full restitution prior to the plea.

Information presented in court showed that Little as the President and responsible person of Phillip A. Little Enterprises, Inc., dba Speedway Xpress Mart, aided and abetted the corporation to embezzle, misapply, and convert to its own use $127,562.51 in North Carolina Sales Tax during the period January 1, 2015 through January 22, 2018.  During this period of time, Little was the responsible person of the corporation and under a duty to collect, hold in trust, and remit North Carolina State Taxes to the North Carolina Department of Revenue.

The charges against Little resulted from an investigation by special agents with the Department’s Criminal Investigations Division in Raleigh, and was prosecuted by the Special Prosecutions attorneys in the office of the Attorney General.