Ridgefield Man Pleads Guilty To Tax Evasion

Deirdre M. Daly, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that LOUIS VUCCI, JR., 44, of Ridgefield, waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty on October 3 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas P. Smith in Hartford to evading the payment of nearly $200,000 in federal taxes over a five-year period.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from 2005 through 2009, VUCCI was the president and CEO of Diamond Ranch Foods (“DRF”), a publicly-traded company in the business of selling and distributing meat products in the New York area.  In pleading guilty, VUCCI admitted that he underreported his income by $112,310 in 2005, $109,473 in 2006, $174,300 in 2007, $187,704 in 2008, and $95,126 in 2009.  The unreported income consisted of weekly pay checks from DRF in the amount of $2,500 that were made payable to VUCCI’s spouse, who did not work for DRF, and deposited into a bank account in his spouse’s name.  Also, in 2008 and 2009, VUCCI had one of DRF’s customers pay him for purchases with blank checks, which checks he then completed and deposited into his personal bank account.  The checks totaled $26,236 in 2008 and $65,387 in 2009.

In addition, large cash deposits totaling $16,100 in 2008 and $25,020 in 2009 were made into VUCCI’s personal bank accounts. These deposits were cash payments from another DRF customer for DRF sales to the customer.

VUCCI’s federal individual income tax returns reported income of $19,590 in 2005, $12,500 in 2006, $12,000 in 2007, $30,000 in 2008, $125,202 in 2009.  The reported low income from 2005 to 2008 automatically qualified VUCCI for the Earned Income Credit yielding refunds rather than taxes owed.
The total tax loss to the government from 2005 to 2009 is $196,425.

From mid-2005 to mid-2007, VUCCI and his spouse rented a home in Greenwich for $8,500 per month, had car expenses in excess of $1,000 per month, and paid a housekeeper for approximately 20 hours per week.  In 2007, VUCCI purchased a house in Ridgefield for $975,000 and continued on with the car payments.

VUCCI pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion.  He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant on December 23, 2013, at which time he faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of up to approximately $390,000.  He has agreed to pay back taxes and applicable interest and penalties.

This matter was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter S. Jongbloed.

PUBLIC AFFAIRS CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov