A suburban pizzeria owner has been sentenced to four years in prison for pulling off the largest sales tax evasion uncovered by authorities in state history.
Despite the hefty sentence, Sam Cirrincione of South Barrington is expected to be paroled from Stateville Correction Center before Christmas. That’s thanks to Cirrincione serving over two years on home electronic monitoring while his case dragged through the Cook County court system.
Cirrincione, 60, pleaded guilty on Nov. 12 to a felony count of continuing a financial criminal enterprise. Prosecutors accused him of failing to report over $104 million in income from a chain of family-owned pizza restaurants and businesses in Chicago and the suburbs.
It is “the largest amount ever discovered during a sales tax evasion investigation in Illinois history,” the Illinois Department of Revenue said in a news release Monday.
Sam Cirrincione
Illinois Department of Corrections
Cirrincione has paid back $10.5 million in restitution to the state from eight restaurants and businesses he owned, according to court records.
The businesses, some of which are now listed as closed, include Pizza Pete, Biago Cirrincione Inc., Mr. B’s Stuffed Pizza, Suparossa on Western, Suparoosa Woodridge, 86 Food Source, Mia Café and Bella Donna.
Authorities with the state’s revenue department carried out a search warrant of Cirrincione’s home in June 2019, prosecutors said at Cirrincione’s 2022 arraignment, according to the news website Patch. Authorities allegedly found about $118,500 in cash marked by date and restaurant.
At the time, prosecutors said Cirrincione underreporteed gross revenue of his restaurants by more than $100 million between 2010 and June 2019.
The charges were the result of a long-term investigation that focused on five of Cirrincione’s restaurants, prosecutors said in the hearing.
Cirrincione was indicted in August 2022 on a half dozen counts, including tax fraud, forgery, theft over $100,000 and other counts.
Cirrincione received 680 days of credit for time served on home electronic monitoring, according to court records. He is expected to be paroled on Dec. 20 from Stateville Correctional Center, where he is incarcerated, according to public records from the Illinois Department of Corrections.
A message with Cirrincione’s attorney was not immediately returned.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2024/12/16/sam-cirrincione-tax-evasion-sentence