PEABODY — John Drivas, 66, who owned and operated three restaurants in Peabody, Salem and Seabrook, New Hampshire, was found Thursday to have withheld more than $1.5 million in taxes, according to the U.S. District Attorney’s Office.
Drivas owned and operated Red’s Kitchen and Tavern in Peabody, Red’s Sandwich Shop in Salem and Red’s Seabrook from 2016 to 2022. He was the sole shareholder of the Salem restaurant while owning 100% of the Peabody restaurant with his wife and 52% of the Seabrook restaurant with his children.
Drivas was sentenced to one year and one day in prison followed by a year of supervised release. He also has been ordered to pay restitution of $1,596,775 to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue and $439,341 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Drivas pleaded guilty back in September of 2024 for five counts of failure to collect and pay employment taxes owed to the IRS and four counts of wire fraud for state meal taxes he collected from customers but never paid to the Department of Revenue.
Drivas also paid “under-the-table” wages of $1,496,417 to multiple restaurant employees and did not report those wages to the IRS or pay employment taxes on them. His actions caused more than $439,000 worth of losses in employment taxes.
He intentionally withheld $1,596,775 in taxes from monthly reports and payments owed to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue.
