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Date: Sept. 8, 2026
Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov
BOSTON – The owner and operator of two Massachusetts restaurants pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to paying employees in cash over the course of six years without withholding and paying federal employment taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Marios Michalakis of Westwood, Mass., pleaded guilty to six counts of failing to collect, report and pay over federal employment taxes. Senior U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton scheduled sentencing for Dec. 8, 2026.
From at least January 2016 through December 2022, Michalakis ran two restaurants – Amelia’s, located in Stoughton, Mass., and Sofia Italian Steakhouse, located in West Roxbury, Mass. At each restaurant, Michalakis paid employees in cash “under-the-table,” that is, failed to withhold income taxes, Social Security taxes and Medicare taxes from employee wages. In total, Michalakis failed to pay more than $580,000 in employee and employer taxes owed to the IRS and the Massachusetts Department of Revenue.
Michalakis faces up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater, together with restitution. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Thomas Demeo, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Victor A. Wild of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.
IRS-CI is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. It is the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. IRS-CI has 16 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.