The owner of the Mystic Pizza restaurant made famous by a 1988 film of the same name starring Julia Roberts was sentenced to one year and a day in prison Monday, according to Fox News. He was charged with tax evasion and concealing over $100,000 in income.
John Zelepos, the owner of the Connecticut restaurant, was originally facing up to 15 years in prison. Prosecutors later only sought a three-year sentence, while his attorneys pushed for no prison time at all, according to Reuters.
Along with the prison sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Victor Bolden also sentenced Zelepos to three years probation, gave him a $25,000 fine and ordered $522,658 in forfeiture, according to Reuters.
A year ago, Zelepos was accused of not paying his employees the minimum wage, as well as withholding overtime, according to the Daily Meal. Those matters were later settled privately with his employees.
Between the years of 2006 and 2011, Zelepos is believed to have evaded an estimated $234,000 in federal taxes, and also hid over $500,000 made from the business, according to the Daily Meal.
Zelepos' lawyer said he "is committed" to paying what he owes. "It would be easy, but wrong, to assume that John Zelepos' financial success resulted from distribution of a Julia Roberts romantic comedy film entitled Mystíc Pizza," said the attorney, according to the Daily Mail. "However, while it is true that the film has for some achieved iconic status, the success of John Zelepos' Mystic Pizza restaurant results not from that notoriety but from John's strong work ethic."
