Regulars still fill the tables at Josephine restaurant Jacksonville on a typical evening, plates of pasta arriving under warm light, conversation carrying easily across a room built to feel like a neighborhood fixture rather than a destination spot. What most of those guests didn't know until recently is that the restaurant's original vision nearly collapsed under a scheme playing out behind the scenes, one that only became public this week when the Department of Justice announced a guilty plea.

What the Justice Department Confirmed

The DOJ announced that George Joshua Floyd, who helped open Josephine in Avondale, pled guilty to defrauding the restaurant's investors out of approximately 1.4 million dollars. According to prosecutors, Floyd carried out the scheme by withdrawing large amounts of cash, wiring money to his personal account, using a business credit card for personal expenses, and causing the restaurant to enter unauthorized merchant cash advance loans.

A Separation That Happened Well Before the Headlines

Though the guilty plea only became public this week, the team behind Josephine had already parted ways with Floyd roughly a year and a half earlier. Restaurant operator James Cobb was direct about the timeline. "We have parted ways with the individual that has pleaded guilty to embezzlement and wire fraud and we've had a chance to regrow the restaurant," he said, a comment that draws a clear line between the fraud itself and the restaurant's current operations.

A Vision That Never Changed

Cobb described the restaurant's founding concept as remarkably steady despite what was happening financially behind the scenes. "The vision was always to kind of create an Italian American restaurant that is also a neighborhood restaurant," he said, a goal that held since Josephine first opened in Avondale in 2022. That consistency of vision, he suggests, is part of why the restaurant survived a crisis capable of sinking a less community rooted business.

Investors Who Chose to Stay In

According to Cobb, investors approached him in early 2025 specifically to keep the restaurant from folding. "They believed in the restaurant," he said. "They believed in the sales, all the people we see, the guests we see day to day and how they're experiencing the restaurant." Their willingness to reinvest, rather than walk away, gave Cobb the foundation needed to rebuild.

Rebuilding Trust With Staff First

Cobb's first move after taking over was addressing the staff directly. "There were a few people that decided it wasn't the right fit and we let them move on, and then there was a large amount of the people that were still here who decided they wanted to stay and work as a team to get Josephine going in the right direction," he said.

What Eighteen Months of Rebuilding Looked Like

Since taking over, Cobb has added pasta and cocktail classes, brought on a new chef de cuisine, hired an event manager, and implemented stronger financial controls and oversight. "I feel like all those different parts of the business were things we needed to dial in and get right, and I feel like, now that we've done that, our guests have never been happier," he said.

Answering Questions From Concerned Guests

Cobb said some customers, learning of the scandal only now, assumed the fraud was recent and worried the restaurant might close. He has kept reassuring them otherwise, pointing to what he describes as Josephine's best summer in two years by sales.

What Survives a Scandal Like This

Josephine's story is less about the fraud itself than about what remained once it ended, investors who stayed, staff who chose to rebuild, and a neighborhood restaurant that kept its original promise intact even while its finances quietly fell apart around it.

More information is available on the official website at josephinejax.com. Further reading on the restaurant industry is available at hospitalitycareerprofile.com.