Apollo Nida, Phaedra Parks' husband, sentenced to 8 years

Apollo Nida, the husband of Real Housewives of Atlanta star Phaedra Parks, was sentenced to eight years in prison for his scheme involving bank, mail and wire fraud and ID theft of more than 50 individuals.
Nida, 35, pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to commit mail, wire, and bank fraud following his January arrest. He reportedly made away with an estimated $2 million over the course of his four-year scheme.
Under sentencing guidelines Nida could have been sentenced to anywhere from 92 to 115 months. When asked about the chosen 96-month sentence, the reality star said: "The government did what they had to do."
"Today's sentencing exemplifies impartial justice regardless of economic class or perceived celebrity status, said Reginald G. Moore, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service, Atlanta Field Office, in a press release.
"Nida's sentence should be an eye opener for other like-minded criminals who scheme to steal victims' identities, defraud them and ignore the consequences of their actions."
While the panel wasn't impressed with Nida's attorney's arguments that he deserved a reduced sentence because of his poor upbringing, they did recommend he be jailed somewhere in Atlanta close to his family.
Nida, who was in state prison from 2003 to 2009, could potentially be released a year before his sentence ends in 2022 for good behavior.
"I want to apologize to the victims," he said during Tuesday's hearing. "I want to apologize to my family for letting them down."