The owner of a popular longtime Palm Beach County barbecue restaurant is facing a state charge after a revenue investigator alleged he failed to pay nearly $130,000 in sales taxes.
Derrick McCray, the owner of McCray’s Backyard BBQ, was taken into custody June 3 on one count of theft of state funds and released hours later. He is free on $25,000 bail.
Court records show the Palm Beach County Public Defender’s Office is representing McCray after Circuit Judge Donald Hafele ruled he is indigent. As a matter of policy, the office does not comment on active cases. Telephone calls to two numbers listed for McCray were not answered.
Under Florida law, theft of sales taxes in excess of $100,000 is considered a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
McCray family has fed BBQ to Palm Beach County for 90 years
McCray, 63, has been a longtime fixture Riviera Beach and West Palm Beach, inheriting a family-owned business that dates to nearly a century ago.
He has been a food vendor for multiple events related to the Super Bowl. His culinary skills earned him a spot as judge in 2013 for a barbecue competition on the Discovery Channel.
According to a report from the Florida Department of Revenue, the allegations stem from activity from April 2022 to March 2024.
The report said McCray did a voluntary interview with a state investigator in September in which he described facing significant hardships while trying to keep his business afloat. Investigators allege he knowingly collected and withheld $129,929.56 in sales taxes.
McCray’s family has served barbecue in Palm Beach County since 1934, when his great-grand aunt and her husband founded Harvey’s Barbecue on Seventh Street and Tamarind Avenue in West Palm Beach. His late father, Herman C. McCray Jr., took over McCray’s BBQ when it moved to Riviera Beach in the 1960s.
But court documents indicate McCray’s business had experienced financial difficulties in recent years. The Department of Revenue reported that Derrick Marcel Ventures, an entity related to McCray’s restaurant, did not remit sales tax payments for the time periods ranging from April 2022 to December 2022, and May 2023 to March 2024.
McCray closed his 45th Street location in Mangonia Park amid a business dispute. State records show he currently operates a food truck in Riviera Beach.
Julius Whigham II covers northern Palm Beach County and public safety for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: McCray’s BBQ owner facing charge of failing to pay state sales taxes
Reporting by Julius Whigham II, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
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By Julius Whigham II, Palm Beach Post | USA TODAY Network
