The Real Reason Toby Keith’s Bar and Grill Never Came to Boise

I was craving the fried bologna they always talk about with Toby Keith's Bar and Grill. The restaurant chain was supposed to come to Boise 4 years ago, but it never happened. Here's the real reason why!

According to azcentral.com, A former mafia soldier from Arizona orchestrated the financial collapse of both Toby Keith's Bar and Grill and Rascal Flatts chain. Frank Capri has been arrested on federal fraud charges.

The 52-year-old, his mother Debbie Corvo, and one other person were indicted  on a federal grand jury on 16 counts of fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering.

Frank Capri is allegedly an ex-mobster who was given a new identity through the Federal Witness Protection Program and used it to bilk developers out of millions of dollars.

Frank Capri's real name is Frank Gioia Jr. He was formerly a solider in New York's notorious Lucchese family. He became a witness in the 1990's and moved to Arizona in the early 2000's where he became a real estate and restaurant developer.

Toby Keith's Bar and Grill went under in 2015 amid allegations of theft and fraud, but we never heard the backstory until now.

Frank and his team would make deals to establish restaurants across the country, take downpayment for construction, and then the restaurant never came to be. That's exactly what happened here in the Treasure Valley. 20 of Toby Keith's "I Love This Bar and Grill" never opened under the scam. Capri was also behind the failure of 19 Rascal Flatts restaurants.

All in all, Capri and those behind him had 63 restaurants that either closed shortly after opening, were left unfinished, or never opened at all.

In the 1990's and early 200's Capri cooperated with law-enforcement to convict 70 mafia members and helped clear several unsolved murders.

Frank Capri is scheduled to be in court on April 7th.