Restaurateur From West Suffield Pleads Guilty to Tax Crimes

WEST SUFFIELD, CT — A restaurant owner pleaded guilty in federal court in Springfield, Mass. Monday in connection with failing to file a tax return. Additionally, on behalf of his corporation, he admitted that Scuderi’s Inc. filed false tax returns.

Giuseppe Scuderi, 62, of West Suffield, pleaded guilty to one count of failing to file a tax return for the year 2015, and Scuderi’s Inc. pleaded guilty to five counts of filing false tax returns for the years 2010 through 2014. Scuderi and Scuderi’s Inc. were charged on May 3, 2019, according to United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling of the District of Massachusetts.

According to court documents, Scuderi was the owner of a Southwick restaurant that generated a substantial amount of cash sales. From 2010 to 2014, Scuderi took cash from the business and did not declare it as income, and he kept two sets of books, which depicted both the actual sales of the business and the sales disclosed on his tax returns. As a result of his scheme, Scuderi failed to pay $170,769 in taxes to the government, Lelling said.

The news release from the IRS did not state the name of the restaurant, but a check of public records indicates Scuderi owned and operated Crabby Joe's Bar and Grille at 141 Congamond Road, located on Lake Congamond at the Southwick border with Suffield. A Dec. 13, 2018 article in the Westfield News states, "Scuderi, the owner of Crabby Joe’s Bar and Grille on 141 Congamond Rd., is planning to retire in the spring of 2019 after being in the restaurant business for more than 36 years and will be closing the restaurant."

According to Lelling, Scuderi faces a sentence of no greater than a year in prison, up to a year of supervised release and a $25,000 fine. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni scheduled sentencing for Sept. 19, 2019.