Denis sentenced to 20 months prison, $27K restitution

Former Plaza Towers owner Marco Denis was sentenced this month following a plea agreement he made with federal prosecutors on Dec. 8.

Denis was ordered to serve two terms of 20 months of prison time, imposed concurrently, on two criminal convictions: One for unlawful possession of a firearm after a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction and a second conviction for filing a false tax return, according to a June 16 order signed by Judge Brian C. Wimes of the U.S. Court for the Western District of Missouri Southern Division. Other charges were dismissed, according to the judge’s order.

Upon Denis’ exit from prison, he is required to serve three years of supervised release on the unlawful firearm conviction and one year of supervised release on the false tax return conviction. Like the prison terms, the supervised release terms are to run concurrently, according to the judge’s order.

Wimes ordered Denis to pay $26,914 in restitution, with interest waived, in a lump sum due immediately. Most of the money is to be paid to the U.S. Treasury, with $2,165 owed to the Missouri Department of Revenue.

The June 16 order was an amended order, replacing one on June 15 that had imposed a fine of $10,000 on Denis in addition to the restitution payment.

Joseph Passanise, Denis’ attorney, said the amended order corrects criminal monetary penalties in the original judgment “to be consistent with the judge’s ruling.”

“Mr. Denis accepts responsibility for his actions and is appreciative of the opportunity the judge has given him,” Passanise said in a written statement. “He has served his sentence and looks forward to the next chapter.”

Denis was in custody at Phelps County Jail today, according to online records published by the Phelps County Sheriff.The order includes additional conditions for Denis when he enters supervised release: He must avoid firearms, communicate with law enforcement if questioned and report any changes in residence or employment. Denis is also ordered to cooperate with DNA collection, comply with sex offender registration requirements and undergo a sex offender evaluation and any counseling recommended.

Additionally, the order calls for Denis to submit to searches of his person and property while under supervised release, avoid new credit without approval and consent to electronic device searches.

As SBJ reported late last year, Denis was initially arrested and jailed in mid-July 2024 amid Greene County Circuit Court charges of domestic assault and kidnapping. Firearms were discovered by law enforcement officers in the course of that investigation. 

Plaza Towers was sold to Trent Overhue in April 2025, according to past reporting. Since then, he and business partners have moved ahead with improvements to the 10-story, 130,000-square-foot property at the intersection of Glenstone Avenue and Sunshine Street.

They include Scratch & Co., a 7,000-square-foot restaurant employing roughly 60 people, which opened earlier this month on the Plaza Towers building’s first floor, according to past coverage.