Ex-general manager of Foundry pleads guilty to stealing $150G from restaurant

James Peretti could get up to four years in state prison (Courtesy photo)

MANCHESTER - The former general manager of The Foundry Restaurant in Manchester pleaded guilty on Thursday to two felony theft charges stemming from his time at the Foundry.

In March of last year, James Peretti was charged with a class A felony count of Theft by Unauthorized Taking or Transfer which alleged that he stole vast sums of money from the Foundry across nearly the entirety of his four-year tenure as general manager.

Peretti perpetrated the fraud by generating fraudulent reimbursement claims and using the reimbursement claims as a basis to steal cash.

In June 2024, Peretti was charged with a separate class A felony count of Theft by Deception which alleged that he also stole from the Foundry by falsifying an employee's clock-in entries to make it appear the employee worked hours he actually did not, diverting paychecks reflecting the falsified hours away from the employee, depositing the paychecks into a bank account over which the employee had no control, and spending the resulting proceeds on items unrelated to the Foundry or the employee.

Peretti's guilty pleas were entered pursuant to a capped plea agreement. As part of the plea agreement, he has agreed to pay restitution in the amount of $150,633 to the Foundry. At a sentencing hearing scheduled for June 23 in Hillsborough Superior Court Northern District, the State will argue that Peretti should be sentenced to 2 to 4 years in the State Prison on the Theft by Unauthorized Taking or Transfer charge.

On the Theft by Deception charge, Peretti will be sentenced to 7 ½ to 15 years in the State Prison, all of which will be suspended for a period of 15 years. The suspended sentence will run concurrently with the sentence on the Theft by Unauthorized Taking charge.