{"id":35897,"date":"2023-02-08T04:43:04","date_gmt":"2023-02-08T11:43:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/former-owners-of-ken-sues-restaurant-sentenced-to-probation-for-tax-evasion\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:27:57","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:27:57","slug":"former-owners-of-ken-sues-restaurant-sentenced-to-probation-for-tax-evasion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/former-owners-of-ken-sues-restaurant-sentenced-to-probation-for-tax-evasion\/","title":{"rendered":"Former owners of Ken & Sue\u2019s restaurant sentenced to probation for tax evasion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Ken
Ken & Sue\u2019s restaurant in Durango was raided Wednesday by the Internal Revenue Service\u2019s criminal investigations unit.<\/span>Shane Benjamin\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The former owners of Ken & Sue\u2019s restaurant in Durango were sentenced to five years\u2019 probation for tax evasion Tuesday in a Durango federal courtroom.<\/p>\n

Kenneth and Suzanne Fusco were also sentenced to six months of house arrest, 150 hours each of community service and fined $25,000 each.<\/p>\n

The couple pleaded guilty to tax evasion in a plea agreement Oct. 13 with the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office. They admitted to overstating their business expenses from 2014 through 2019, listing personal expenses as customer supplies in their accounting records, according to an October news release from the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office. Unreported income totaled $933,586, resulting in a tax loss to the government of $160,536.<\/p>\n

Based on terms of the plea agreement, they faced up to three months in jail. Before signing the plea agreement, the couple faced a prison sentence that ranged from 12 to 41 months and a fine between $5,500 and $55,000. Tax evasion is a class D felony.<\/p>\n

The couple paid the amount owed to the IRS before Tuesday\u2019s sentencing, in accordance with the plea agreement reached with the U.S. federal government, which agreed to recommend the minimum sentence. Lawyers for both defendants made motions for \u201cbelow guidelines\u201d sentencing, asking for a maximum of five years\u2019 probation.<\/p>\n

The Fuscos listed Ken & Sue\u2019s, which they had operated for 20 years, for sale in early 2020. On Aug. 4, 2020, undercover IRS agents pretended to be interested buyers, and wearing hidden cameras collected incriminating information that led to a warrant and eventual indictment.<\/p>\n

The couple was represented by separate counsel in their joint court appearance and sentencing on Tuesday. Both lawyers along with Ken and Suzanne made statements before sentencing. Honorable Judge Robert Blackburn warned lawyers that he had thoroughly read all of the documentation related to the case and did not want to hear any \u201creiteration\u201d of said documents.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lifetime of good outweighs perceived need for incarceration,\u201d Ken\u2019s attorney said before citing all the good the restaurateurs have done for employees and the community over the years.<\/p>\n

He said that since the indictment and publicity surrounding the case, the couple had become recluses, no longer going to their usual stores or restaurants because they felt embarrassment, shame and humiliation for their conduct.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea of a short jail sentence is much more severe than the reality of it,\u201d he said. \u201cThe reality of five years\u2019 probation and a felony conviction is far more onerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ken Fusco followed with his statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to apologize for my actions and what we\u2019ve done,\u201d he said. \u201cWe know we made a mistake on what we were claiming.\u201d He said the couple had gotten \u201coverwhelmed\u201d and had a hard couple of years. \u201cI apologize to the court and the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suzanne\u2019s attorney said the couple have made an \u201cextraordinary effort\u201d to have a positive impact on their family and community. She said her client was deeply remorseful and called her client law-abiding, hardworking and from humble beginnings.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe did commit a crime and admits it, but it doesn\u2019t discount the good she and her husband have done in this community for decades,\u201d she concluded before also asking that her client receive five years\u2019 probation.<\/p>\n

Suzanne Fusco followed with her statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry for what I\u2019ve done,\u201d she said as her voice broke with emotion. \u201cAnd I wake up every day feeling sick and full of regret.\u201d She went on to say she was embarrassed to face friends and community members.<\/p>\n

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Graves addressed the court next.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lifetime of good, no matter how good, doesn\u2019t dismiss the wrongs,\u201d Graves said. He called it a scheme perpetrated for years to hide more than a million dollars. \u201cIt\u2019s not just them getting overwhelmed as Ken stated in court today. It\u2019s intent over and over again. \u2018We are masters of disguise\u2019 they told the IRS undercover agent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graves called the 12 to 18 month prison sentence guidelines appropriate. He called the couples\u2019 motive \u201cgreed\u201d and deserving of a more serious penalty.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a system of law and not indulgences,\u201d Graves said. \u201cWhat could they have done for their community? Paid their fair share of taxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graves went on to say he had \u201cno doubt probation will be a piece of cake for them.\u201d He then agreed the couple have done good things for the community and that it should be taken into account in lowering their sentence. He recommended three months of incarceration followed by supervised release, and added that probation alone was not adequate.<\/p>\n

Blackburn talked about the temptation to underreport earnings but called the Fuscos transgression a \u201ccollision between greed and vanity.\u201d They should have realized what they were doing was \u201cimmoral and illegal,\u201d he said. \u201cBut they only quit when they were caught.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blackburn called tax evasion of any kind an assault on the U.S. Treasury, and said everyone else has to hold their noses and pay.<\/p>\n

\u201cMillions of law-abiding taxpayers do it every year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Blackburn said he was considering probation versus three months custody, which he called reasonable under current federal sentencing statute.<\/p>\n

Blackburn then accepted the plea agreement and the defendants\u2019 motions for sentences below guidelines before passing his sentence. The six months of house arrest includes exemptions for education, employment, religious services, medical and mental health visits, consultation with lawyers, courts, probation officers, and other approved activities.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach of you needs to understand clearly that probation is not a God-given right, it\u2019s a privilege not to be exploited,\u201d he said. \u201cViolate one thing and you could be sentenced to a lengthy term in federal penitentiary. Don\u2019t take this personally but I hope never to see either of you again \u2026 but if you are back before me for a probation violation \u2013 bring your toothbrush\u201d because you will be going to prison, he said.<\/p>\n

gjaros@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Defense attorneys cite couple\u2019s service to community in requesting leniency<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[133,168,314,950,1503,28,450,1160],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-35897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-courts","tag-crime","tag-downtown-durango","tag-durango","tag-fraud","tag-headlines","tag-restaurant-and-catering","tag-taxation"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35897"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35897\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83163,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35897\/revisions\/83163"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35897"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=35897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}