A former Bellevue-based developer and lender convicted of two counts of tax evasion in December for hiding his assets for a decade while avoiding taxes and living a life of luxury was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison and three years of supervised release in U.S. District Court on Thursday, March 19.

Thomas R. Hazelrigg, III, 68, of Redmond was found guilty by a jury in U.S. District Court following a nine-day trial, where prosecutors made their case for how the former developer avoided $533,454 in taxes owed from 1989 to 1991 and also in 1994, while spending millions of dollars on a Bellevue penthouse, two homes in Palm Springs, private aircraft, thoroughbred horse racing and country club fees, according to a release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The trial also focused on the illegal funneling of income from Hazelrigg’s businesses into accounts he kept hidden from the Internal Revenue Service, which the attorney’s office states he used to remodel his Bellevue penthouse and Palm Spring homes, including the installation of two glass chandeliers by Dale Chihuly valued at more than $460,000.

“We are all taught from a young age that the lie is often worse than the original offense,” said Special Agent in Charge Teri Alexander of IRS Criminal Investigation in a news release. “Thomas Hazelrigg cheated on his taxes and then spent many years and a great deal of effort trying to cover it up.  The truth finally caught up with him.”