Employees at Capitol Hill restaurant Single Shot had more than $1 million taken from their paychecks — money that their employer withheld but didn’t pay to the IRS.
Single Shot Kitchen and Saloon owner Ruadhri “Rory” McCormick entered a plea agreement on Monday, admitting to withholding and not paying to the IRS a total of $1,446,341 from 2014 to 2024. It amounted to $1 million in payroll taxes and $400,000 in the employer portions of Social Security, Medicare and federal unemployment taxes.
“Mr. McCormick’s employees trusted him with their tax withholdings. Little did they know that Mr. McCormick took advantage of this trust and kept over $1 million of these funds for himself,” IRS criminal investigator Carrie Nordyke said in a statement.
The plea agreement comes after McCormick was charged with tax fraud in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington last week. The charges are punishable by up to five years in prison, contingent on the ruling from U.S. District Judge Kymberly K. Evanson in a sentencing scheduled for Oct. 5.
McCormick’s attorneys did not respond to requests for comment.
Additionally, McCormick admitted in the plea agreement that he did not file his personal income taxes from 2015 through 2024. The restaurant owner has agreed to pay the full amount owed, as restitution to the IRS.
“While the restitution is owed to the IRS, those who are hurt by this conduct are the employees,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. “The failure to pay over the taxes means the employees may not be eligible for many federal benefits that they paid for and may have been counting on. Mr. McCormick needs to make this right.”
Discrepancies in employees’ Social Security records can occur when employers do not report correctly. This, in turn, can cause miscalculations and potential reductions in employees’ Social Security benefits, especially harmful to those reaching retirement age.
An employee of McCormick’s would have to check their Social Security record to confirm that the information submitted by McCormick looks correct, according to Jon Gee, a special agent and spokesperson for IRS Criminal Investigation.
“Employers have an obligation to their employees to do the right thing. Today’s guilty plea is a step toward justice for those harmed by Mr. McCormick’s criminal actions,” Nordyke said.
Correction: Judge Kymberly K. Evanson's name was misspelled in an earlier version of this story.
© 2026 The Seattle Times. Visit www.seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
