Philly region pizza magnate DiMeo sentenced to 24 months in prison

Suburban pizza magnate Giuseppe DiMeo was sentenced Monday to 24 months in federal prison for skimming millions off his restaurants' books and paying undocumented employees under the table.

He also must pay $463,730 restitution to the IRS.

DiMeo, 51, of Eagleville, Montgomery County, who co-owned a handful of restaurants, including Pizzeria DiMeo's in Upper Roxborough and Ardé Osteria in Wayne, was charged in May 2017 with two counts of conspiring to defraud the IRS and 12 counts of filing false tax returns. According to court documents, he did not report up to $2 million in revenue over several years, and failed to pay the IRS about $1 million in income and payroll taxes.

DiMeo is accused of skimming cash from the DiMeo Pizza Kitchen restaurants formerly at 701 E. Cathedral Rd. in Andorra and in Conshohocken; DiMeo's Pizzaiuoli Napulitani in Wilmington; and the former Allegro Pizza on Monument Road in River Park — and paying many of his employees under the table from 2008 to 2012, while failing to tell his accountant or the IRS about it, according to court documents.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria M. Carrillo said she was "very satisfied" with the sentence levied by U.S. District Judge Juan R. Sanchez.

"The judge's sentence sent a statement that taxpayers' sacrifices will not be in vain, because people like Giuseppe DiMeo, who have been selfish in their decisions and violated the law by cheating the government out of money, will be punished," Carrillo said. "I think the message is loud and clear to him individually, to the community, and to other restaurateurs who believe that this is business as usual in the restaurant industry, and it's not."

DiMeo's lawyer, Jerome Brown, said he had not discussed with his client the possibility of an appeal.

After the prison term, DiMeo was ordered to serve four months of supervised probation.