Celeb chef accused of stealing $14K from Bay Ridge restaurant offered delicious plea deal
The Bay Ridge celebrity chef accused of stealing more than $14,000 from a restaurant for which he was consulting was offered a sweet, no-jail plea deal Wednesday in Brooklyn Supreme Court.
Vincent Tropepe was arrested in February on charges that he falsified city documents claiming the restaurant he worked for — the Yemen Cafe — owed thousands in delinquent payments to the city. Tropepe told the restaurant that they owed higher fines than they actually did, and he pocketed the difference. He faces seven years in prison on the top charge.
But on Wednesday, prosecutors changed their tune, offering Tropepe just five years probation, along with four weeks of community service and full restitution of $14,220 to the Yemen Cafe over the course of his probation.