For those of you who remember the famous film Mystic Pizza that came out in 1988, you’d know that the famous restaurant in the movie was based on a real restaurant of the same name in Connecticut. Too bad the actual restaurant isn’t as nice and cheery as it appeared in the movie. The pizza joint’s real owner has been sentenced to one year in prison for tax evasion and concealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in income.
49-Year-Old John Zelepos was sentence to a year in prison on Monday. He’ll also have to serve three years under supervised release once he’s out of jail. Zelepos pleaded guilty in March to tax evasion and financial structuring offenses, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Prosecutors say that between 2006 and 2010, Zelepos diverted more than $330,000 from Mystic Pizza’s profits into his personal bank accounts and those of family members. They say he then filed false tax returns to hide the income.
Mystic Pizza has become a tourist attraction since Julia Roberts starred in the movie about the lives of three waitresses working at the small-town pizza parlor.
