Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Another Ocean City boardwalk pizza store owner pleads guilty to tax evasion

John Gaeta cheated the government out of more than $85,000 in taxes while trying to conceal his ownership of Big Slice Pizza.

The Ocean City boardwalk. In February, the owner of Manco & Manco was also sentenced to prison for tax evasion.
The Ocean City boardwalk. In February, the owner of Manco & Manco was also sentenced to prison for tax evasion.Read moreCLEM MURRAY / Staff Photographer

Another Ocean City, N.J., boardwalk pizza restaurant owner has pleaded guilty to tax evasion.

John Gaeta, 54, of Cherry Hill, admitted that while trying to conceal his ownership of Big Slice Pizza, he failed to report $683,999 in taxable income in 2012 and 2013, cheating the government out of more than $85,000 in taxes, the IRS said.

Gaeta, who pleaded guilty to filing a false income tax return on Monday in an appearance before U.S. District Judge Noel L. Hillman in Camden, faces up to three years in prison and tens of thousands of dollars in fines when he is sentenced Feb. 2.

According to officials, Gaeta concealed his ownership of Big Slice Pizza by naming his wife as the owner even though she had no involvement in it, and had her report some of the income and expenses on her personal taxes.

In February, Charles Bangle, owner of Manco & Manco, the landmark chain of pizza shops on the Ocean City boardwalk, was sentenced to 15 months in prison after admitting to evading nearly $92,000 in taxes.

"IRS-Criminal Investigation's largest enforcement area is directed at individuals and businesses that intentionally attempt to cheat the government by not paying their fair share of taxes," Jonathan D. Larsen, special agent in charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation unit's Newark field office, said in a statement, vowing to continue to vigorously pursue such  investigations.