Jared Leonard Admits to Federal Fraud and Tax Evasion

Jared Leonard, 45, the restaurateur behind Campfire Concepts and AJ’s Pit Bar-B-Q, pleaded guilty on Friday to charges of wire fraud and tax evasion. The guilty plea was entered in a Chicago courtroom, where Leonard admitted to defrauding federal aid programs out of $2.3 million and failing to remit $434,000 in employee taxes.

Details of the Fraud

Leonard and his wife, Amanda, previously owned several restaurants including Campfire Lakewood, Campfire Evergreen, two AJ’s Pit Bar-B-Q locations, and Grabowski’s Pizzeria in Lakewood. The AJ’s Pit Bar-B-Q Steakhouse near West Wash Park closed in 2024, followed by the Campfire and Grabowski’s locations in early 2025. Another AJ’s location was seized last year due to unpaid taxes.

Inflated Loan Applications

Between April 2020 and February 2021, Leonard submitted ten applications for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL). These applications contained deliberately inflated figures regarding employee numbers and revenue, as stated in a federal plea agreement dated March 27. As a result of these fraudulent applications, AJ’s received $413,500 in federal aid, and Grabowski’s received $150,000.

Misuse of Funds and Unpaid Taxes

According to the plea agreement, Leonard used the fraudulently obtained loan proceeds for personal expenses. This included the cash purchase of a personal residence in Elmgreen, Colorado, for approximately $1.2 million on June 17, 2020. Furthermore, investigators discovered that Leonard withheld $434,390 from his employees in 2019 and early 2020 for income taxes, Social Security, and other deductions, but failed to remit these funds to the government.

Agreement and Sentencing

Leonard has agreed to repay a total of $2.7 million to the government, covering both the fraudulent loan amounts and the unpaid taxes. In exchange for his guilty pleas, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago agreed to drop charges of money laundering, bank fraud, and the transportation of stolen property.

Leonard will remain in custody until his sentencing on June 30. This pre-trial detention is unusual for pandemic fraud cases. Concerns were previously raised last year that Leonard might attempt to flee to Mexico.