This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Posted: 12:09 PM- Days before they begin serving prison terms for tax evasion, Thomas and Leslie Mower have sold Neways International to the San Francisco-based owner of Herbalife.
Golden Gate Capital did not disclose the financial details behind its acquisition of Springville-based Neways. But the private equity firm paid $685 million for Herbalife in 2002.
The Mowers said in a statement that selling the dietary supplement and personal care company they founded in 1992 was "one of the hardest decisions of our lives."
The couple disclosed plans to sell the company two months ago in court filings, citing "personal differences."
The Mowers, who divorced in July 2000, came from humble beginnings but together built one of the largest multilevel marketing companies in the world in Utah County.
In 2005 they were convicted on six counts of tax evasion and one count of conspiracy to defraud for concealing more than $1 million in receipts received from Neways Australia and more than $3 million in commission income the couple received from U.S., Australian and Malaysian distributorships.
On Sept. 14, U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball rejected the Mowers' pleas for probation and sentenced Thomas Mower to 33 months in prison and a $75,000 fine. His ex-wife, Dee, was ordered to spend 27 months behind bars and pay a $60,000 fine. Their prison terms begin Monday.
Kimball also sentenced James Louis Thompson, an Orem lawyer who served as counsel for Neways from 1995 to 1997, to 366 days in prison. Thompson, now disbarred, was found guilty of conspiracy and of corruptly impeding the due administration of tax laws.