Ruadhri McCormick, 44, owner of the Capitol Hill restaurant, pleaded guilty Monday to willfully failing to pay over more than $1.4 million in unemployment, Social Security and Medicare taxes. Between 2014 and 2024 he employed as many as 87 servers, bartenders and cooks, withholding payroll taxes from their pay and keeping the money rather than sending it to the Internal Revenue Service.
Across 36 quarters, the withheld employee share came to $1,027,362. Skipped employer contributions added more than $400,000, for a total tax loss of $1,446,341 that McCormick has agreed to repay in full. He also admitted he did not file a personal income tax return for any year from 2015 through 2024.
Prosecutors say the real cost lands on the staff, who may now be ineligible for federal benefits they already paid for. The workers do not owe the money themselves. Once an employer withholds those taxes, the employee is legally credited with having paid them.
Sentencing is set for October 5. The charge carries up to five years in prison, though prosecutors will recommend no more than 15 months. Single Shot remains open on Summit Ave E.
