Cannone

Vince Cannone of Walla Walla pleaded not guilty Tuesday to stealing from the Hamley Steakhouse.

Cannone managed the steakhouse from when it opened in the fall of 2007 to May 2008. A Umatilla Grand Jury in August indicted Cannone on theft charges related to his employment with the downtown Pendleton establishment.

Cannone pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree theft, three counts of first-degree theft of services, all felonies, and a count of second-degree theft, a misdemeanor.

Umatilla County District Attorney Dean Gushwa has said the state is alleging Cannone took cash, gift certificates and services without paying for them in separate instances. Parley Pearce, owner of the steakhouse and adjacent coffee shop and western store, has said Cannone may have taken $20,000-$30,000 from the business.

Cannone has reported he resigned from his $125,000-a-year position with the restaurant, but Pearce has said he and fellow owner Blair Woodfield fired Cannone. Pearce and Woodfield also have filed a lawsuit against Cannone alleging he never made good on his promise to become a partner in the venture. Pearce also has said he and Woodfield may sue Cannone again if he doesn’t make good on what he owes the steakhouse.

In January, Anderson Perry & Associates hired Cannone as the firm’s business development manager for eastern Washington. The firm has reported Cannone was a good employee. In June he bought and reopened Jacobi’s Cafe, a Walla Walla restaurant he had owned about a decade earlier. He and his family live in Walla Walla and run the restaurant.

Cannone’s next court appearance in this case is Nov. 4 at the Umatilla County Courthouse in Pendleton.