Scoop: Patriarch of Philly pizza empire Santucci's faces tax evasion charges

• The Santuccis, one of the region's "royal families of pie," have cemented their names in the Pizza Hall of Fame.

Driving the news: Federal prosecutors filed two counts of tax evasion and two counts of filing a false tax return against Santucci Sr. earlier this month.

• The 66-year-old, who is free on bail, is accused of underreporting his earned income from Santucci's by more than $864,000 between 2017 and 2018, per records.
• Santucci Sr. will admit to the felony charges at a hearing on Wednesday, his attorney, Richard J. Fuschino, tells Axios.
• The two tax evasion charges each carry a maximum of five years in prison, while the charges for filing a false tax return carry up to three years. While defendants sometimes plead guilty in hopes of receiving a lighter sentence, Santucci's attorney declined to comment on whether a plea deal was discussed.

What they're saying: "He looks forward to just putting this past him and accepting responsibility for his mistakes," Fuschino says.

• Santucci Sr. didn't respond to Axios' phone calls seeking comment. Fuschino confirmed that he'd advised his client, who he says is now retired, not to comment on the pending case.

Santucci Sr.'s case will not affect the family's ability to continue operating the pizza shops, Fuschino says.

• "He doesn't want it to reflect on what is a fantastic and phenomenal business."
• None of Santucci's family members or the company's franchise partners are implicated in the case.

Flashback: Santucci's operated for years as a "cash only" business. The family started using a digital transaction system in November 2017 to track customers' orders, per the court filing.

• Federal prosecutors say Santucci Sr. was the pizza business' de facto bookkeeper and handled the company's financial records and bank accounts.

Zoom in: Santucci Sr. is accused of maintaining two sets of financial records between 2015 and 2018 for the family's North Broad location — one that reflected the pizza shop's income, payroll and expenses from 2016-2018 and another that reflected its weekly cash earnings from October 2015-January 2017, per the court filing.

• Prosecutors alleged that Santucci concealed the cash earnings, which were hidden in bank accounts, from two New Jersey accountants who prepared those tax returns in 2017 and 2018, per the court filing.

Between the lines: Prosecutors filed the charges "by information," which doesn't require a grand jury vote. Prosecutors file the charges directly with a judge, who then determines whether there's probable cause.

• Filing charges by information can be a speedier route to securing a conviction if the defendant agrees to waive indictment and admit to the charges, Rutgers law professor J.C. Lore III tells Axios.
• It can also allow the defendant to avoid "salacious details" spilling out in an indictment or later at trial, Lore says.
• A spokesperson for federal prosecutors didn't immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.

Context: Santucci Sr. took over the business in 1976 from his parents, who opened their first pizza shop on O Street in Juniata Park in 1959. He kept the original shop open for four decades before relocating to South Philly.

• The family's calling card is a square pie with the sauce on top of the cheese, hailed by loyal customers, who have kept coming back for more.