The owner of Grimaldi’s Pizzeria and the manager of the restaurant’s Manhattan location pleaded guilty to stealing more than $32,000 in wages from 18 employees by bouncing checks and sometimes by not paying workers at all, prosecutors announced on Wednesday.
The owner, Anthony Piscina, 63, and the manager, Frank Santora, 71, each pleaded guilty to one count of attempted scheme to defraud in the first degree.
They submitted a cashier’s check to the Manhattan district attorney’s office on Wednesday to pay full restitution as their sentence.
The plea means that “18 hard-working New Yorkers will be made whole,” Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, said in a statement.
Gerard Marrone, a lawyer representing both Mr. Piscina and Mr. Santora, said his clients had entered guilty pleas to put the case behind them and that they were merely “guilty of very bad record-keeping.”
Persons:
Anthony, Frank Santora, ” Alvin Bragg, Gerard Marrone, Santora, ”
Locations:
Manhattan