All three members of the Zourdos family convicted in the multimillion-dollar tax fraud scam at their Dippin Donuts locations in Rome and New Hartford have been sentenced to federal jail time.
The judge decided to stagger the sentences of John, Helen, and Dimitrios so that at least one family member may continue to operate the family business. It was requested that the judge examine the livelihoods of at least 25 Dippin Donuts employees.
In addition, the family was sentenced to pay $2 million in restitution to the U.S. government, with all additional fines being waived.
Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge David N. Hurd remarked, “Greed and riches appear to be the two main mediating variables in this case.”
In delivering his sentencing, the judge took into account the family’s apparent lack of remorse and “almost a sense of entitlement to the money,” as well as the fact that the Zourdos family members “had been good citizens in numerous ways.”
Judge Hurd imposed a 2-and-a-half-year federal prison term on John Zourdos, age 69. Helen Zourdos, age 65, was given a prison term of one year and eight months. 39-year-old Dimitrios Zourdos was given a federal prison term of 10 months.
Each sentence included three years of post-release monitoring, and all three sentences were shorter than the highest possible sentence each offender might have received.
John, Helen, and Dimitrios were all found guilty by a jury on November 10 of all allegations against them: one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, seven counts of tax evasion, and seven counts of aiding and assisting in the filing of fraudulent corporation income tax returns.
Prosecutors said that between 2012 and 2017, family members collected a share of daily cash purchases from their three Dippin Donuts stores — two in Rome and one in New Hartford — and failed to declare this income to the IRS.
Prosecutors asserted that all three defendants benefited from at least $2 million in tax evasion.
Prosecutors asserted that the family evaded further taxes by paying some of its employees in cash for overtime labour.
John Zourdos
John Zourdos apologized briefly for the current state of affairs.
John Zourdos was granted one month to settle his affairs by judge Hurd. On August 16, he must surrender to authorities.
The fact that John was the only member of his family to testify in his own defence at trial, and the court’s conclusion that John likely lied about the crime, contributed to John receiving the harshest punishment from his family.
David Garvin, who represented Zourdos, praised his client before the judge and pleaded for leniency.
Garvin stated to the judge, “John and his wife Helen have been generous to all individuals in need who have approached them.”
“His generosity, his lifetime of hard labour, his law-abiding, and his philanthropy is excellent and much beyond what is generally anticipated.” John Zourdos, according to Garvin, is “humiliated, humbled, disappointed, and most importantly, remorseful.”
Helen Zourdos
As part of a prepared statement, Helen Zourdos said in court, “I cannot find the words to express how humiliating this is and how remorseful I am.”
“I feel drained, bruised, and shattered,” Helen said, adding that she could not stand hearing the authorities refer to her as a criminal. “I am extremely sorry.”
According to Judge Hurd, Helen Zourdos’s sentence will not commence until June 15, 2023. She was granted a postponement to continue caring for her demented 93-year-old mother.
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At the sentencing, the Zourdos family was represented by two family friends, one a Dippin Donuts store manager.
Jeannine Early, a close acquaintance of the family, described them as “kind, giving, well-respected, and beloved.” She provided numerous examples before Judge Hurd of the generosity of the Zourdos family to individuals and organizations over the years.
Shelbey Wheadon, manager of all three Dippin Donuts stores, stated, “They are the most unselfish, hardworking, and inspiring individuals I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting.” She stated that the “thousands” of acts of kindness she has experienced or heard about “occur easily because of the types of people they are…I know they have much more good to do in this terrible world.”
