Ridgefield Man Sentenced To Prison For Tax Evasion

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that LOUIS VUCCI, JR., 45, of Ridgefield, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford to 12 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for 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 failed to report more than $678,000 in income he received while serving as 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.  VUCCI 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.

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 to make the car payments.

Judge Bryant ordered VUCCI to pay back taxes in the amount of $196,425, as well as substantial interest and penalties.

On October 3, 2013, VUCCI pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion.

VUCCI was ordered to report to prison on September 9, 2014.

This matter was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division.  The case was 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