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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Monday - April 25, 2005

WILMINGTON BUSINESSMAN SENTENCED TO FIVE YEARS HOUSE ARREST
FOR FILING FALSE TAX RETURNS

WILMINGTON - United States Attorney Frank D. Whitney announced that VICTOR W. DEL PIZZO was sentenced in federal court in Wilmington, N. C., on Monday, April 25, 2005, by Senior U. S. District Judge James C. Fox. A federal grand jury in Greenville had indicted DEL PIZZO on August 12, 2004, for two felony counts of filing false income tax returns, and, in January, 2005, he had pled guilty to both counts.

DEL PIZZO was sentenced to five years of house arrest, including one year of electronic monitoring, and was ordered to pay a $10,000.00 fine and cooperate with the Internal Revenue Service in their efforts to collect taxes owed by DEL PIZZO.

DEL PIZZO, 66, resides in Wilmington.

According to official documents and evidence presented in court: On his 1996, 1997, and 1998 tax returns, DEL PIZZOcollectively understated the amount of money received by his motel, the Seven Seas Inn at Kure Beach, N. C., by more than $225,000.00. As a result, the federal government, the State of North Carolina, and Brunswick County lost a total of $99,872.00 in taxes.

Investigation of the case was conducted by the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service. Assistant U. S. Attorney Clay C. Wheeler prosecuted the case for the United States.