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A former Hawaii pet store owner whose father pleaded no contest to 153 counts of animal cruelty in a high-profile Waimanalo puppy mill case has been charged with tax evasion.
Sheryl Luke-Kalani was arraigned Monday on six felony counts of evading state general excise taxes from 2007 to 2012, and six misdemeanor counts of failing to obtain a GET license, provide the state with information about her business or file a tax return during the same period, the city prosecutor’s office said.
The charges stem from a state Taxation Department investigation initiated after the 2011 shutdown of the puppy mill. Luke-Kalani owned Bradley International Inc.’s Waimanalo property where her father was accused of operating a puppy mill.
Vernon Luke, president and treasurer of Bradley, pleaded no contest to 153 counts of second-degree animal cruelty in 2011. The company was fined $306,000 and ordered to pay $371,000 in restitution to the Hawaiian Humane Society, which seized 153 dogs from the Waimanalo property.
According to the prosecutor’s office, Luke dissolved the company and left it with no assets. None of the court-ordered payments was made.
Luke-Kalani is scheduled for trial on the tax evasion charges on June 22.
Luke was indicted by a grand jury on the same charges in March, and is also scheduled for trial in June.
Tax evasion is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $100,000 fine.