Newswatch

Unlicensed contractor gets jail in tax case

An unlicensed contractor has been sentenced to a year in jail for failing to pay taxes.

The state Department of Taxation’s criminal investigation unit announced Thursday that Tevita Ungounga was sentenced earlier this month. After serving his jail term, he will be on probation, and he was ordered not to perform any unlicensed work. He is to report his wage earnings to his probation officer twice a month.

He was No. 1 on the state’s Regulated Industries Complaints Office list of top 10 unlicensed contractors.

A judge found him guilty in May of tax-related charges including four counts of attempt to evade or defeat tax, three counts of false and fraudulent statements and four counts of willful failure to file.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Lihue man killed after running onto Utah freeway

A semitruck driver in Utah who hit a Kauai man on Interstate 80 Friday said the pedestrian ran toward the crude oil hauler in the final moments of his life.

The Utah Highway Patrol said Victor Mathew Gordan, 52, of Lihue was killed at about 5:30 a.m. Friday in Tooele County, between the Lake Point and Grantsville exits.

Authorities said Gordan parked his rental car on the side of the road before walking on the freeway.

The truck driver, Lonnie Bentley, 36, of Garden City, Utah, told the highway patrol he had no time to avoid Gordan. Officers say his double-trailer truck was hauling crude oil and traveled about 150 yards before it came to a stop.

Gordan was thrown into the center median on impact.