A restaurant owner in Taney County will soon be on his way to prison. Tony Cowden, the owner of Tony’s Pizza House in Protem, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to five felony counts of tax evasion. Cowden has not yet been sentenced, but according to the Ozark County Times, his plea agreement with the state of Missouri requests he spend 18 months in federal prison and pay over $138,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service, the Missouri Department of Revenue and the Social Security Administration. He will also be ordered to pay a $100 mandatory special assessment fee per felony conviction at the time of sentencing.According to the plea agreement, Cowden opened Tony’s Pizza House in 2008 and devised a plan to “skim” gross receipts from the business to evade paying income taxes. He only reported the receipts he deposited in his bank account on his tax forms and left other funds unaccounted for. Court documents show Cowden continued the scheme until July 2015.
The plea agreement also states Cowden encouraged his customers to pay cash at his restaurant by offering a five-percent discount for cash payments. Signs were allegedly posted on the restaurant’s walls and tables notifying the customers of the cash discount.
One count of misuse of a Social Security number was dismissed in the case.
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