Kennebunkport restaurant owner going to jail for tax evasion

ALFRED, Maine — The part owner of a Kennebunkport restaurant is going to jail for nine months for income tax evasion, theft of sales tax and other charges.

Prosecutors say 59-year-old Brian Bartley also was ordered to pay more than $87,000 in restitution to the state.

Maine Attorney General William Schneider said Bartley, a part owner and general manager of Bartley’s Dockside restaurant, pleaded guilty in March to charges he stole a portion of the sales taxes customers paid to the restaurant for his personal use.

Schneider said Bartley also used the restaurant as a vehicle for income tax evasion, and fraudulently applied for and received unemployment compensation even though his restaurant operated as a year-round business.

Prosecutors say Bartley and his father were convicted of similar offenses in 1991.