Jason stevens

When Jen and Nancy met with ReBar's Jason Stevens in April, he offered them a significant discount if they paid for everything upfront... a month later he was gone, with their money.

Jason Stevens, the infamous owner of the defunct DUMBO gastropub and wedding venue reBar, is going to prison.

Stevens has been formally banned for life from the NY restaurant and catering industry.

Stevens agreed to pay $1 million to couples who have filed complaints with the attorney general. The only itsy bitsy problem? Stevens has no money. And if he does, it'll go toward his unpaid taxes.

Stevens pled guilty to grand larceny 2 and four counts of criminal tax fraud in the second degree today; he is facing 3 1/3 to 10 years imprisonment as a result.

Nancy Nienberg and Jennifer Liseo filed a lawsuit accusing Stevens of fraud, the first such lawsuit by one of the hundreds of couples who had their wedding deposits taken by Stevens.

"Here we are thinking you’re a nice guy and you were just pulling a wedding Ponzi scheme."

Stevens was charged with one count of felony grand larceny and multiple felony tax charges at Brooklyn Criminal Court this morning.

"He took our money, and we had to reconsider our honeymoon plans, but he didn't take away the wonderful memories of our wedding day, and the amazing support we received from our friends and families."

Stevens is still MIA.

Gothamist has spoken to several former reBar employees who all claim that bad financial decisions led to owner Jason Stevens allegedly stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from clients and taking off into the night.

The DUMBO gastropub reBar, which boasts an extensive craft beer menu and a great independent movie theater, was shut down by the Health Department yesterday. The owner tells us its the economy and his landlord.