Mazzella’s Italian: Owner Cooks Up Tax Evasion Scheme

WILMINGTON, DE – Domenico Mazzella, the man behind Wilmington’s Mazzella’s Italian Restaurant, isn’t serving up pasta anymore – he’s facing federal time. The restaurant owner pleaded guilty today to a brazen multi-year scheme to dodge taxes, a move that cost the IRS nearly $550,000, according to U.S. Attorney Julianne E. Murray.

Mazzella, facing a sixteen-count indictment, admitted to four counts of tax evasion and twelve counts of failure to collect, account for, and pay over trust fund taxes. The feds say from at least 2017 through 2020, Mazzella deliberately defrauded the Internal Revenue Service, hiding a shadow payroll of cash-paid employees. He didn’t just fail to remit the taxes on those wages; he actively concealed the entire operation from his tax preparer.

But the deception didn’t stop there. Court documents reveal Mazzella also siphoned over $600,000 from the restaurant’s bank accounts into his personal account, falsely labeling the transfers as legitimate business reimbursements. This maneuver artificially inflated expenses, tricking his tax preparer into underreporting the restaurant’s true income – and, crucially, underreporting Mazzella’s personal income on his tax returns. It was a calculated effort to line his pockets at the expense of the American public.

“Domenico Mazzella’s actions were a deliberate attempt to cheat the American public and gain an unfair advantage over law-abiding businesses and citizens,” Murray stated bluntly. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, working alongside IRS-Criminal Investigation, is sending a clear message: tax evasion will be aggressively pursued.

Yury Kruty, Special Agent in Charge of the Philadelphia Field Office for IRS-Criminal Investigation, echoed that sentiment. “This plea exhibits a positive message to honest taxpayers,” Kruty said, “and further demonstrates that the IRS…is duty bound to protect the integrity of the U.S. tax administration system.” Mazzella has agreed to pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $549,370.39 to cover the evaded taxes.

Now, Mazzella awaits sentencing, where he faces a maximum of five years in prison for each of the sixteen counts. The Court will consider U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other federal regulations before handing down a final verdict. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan C. Williamson is prosecuting the case. Find related court documents on PACER under Case No. 25-113-GBW, or on the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware website.