Friend Tire Co. of Monnett, Mo., has pled guilty to four misdemeanor counts of failure to file quarterly excise tax returns in 1995, according to a statement from the Office of the United States Attorney, Western District of Missouri.
The wholly-owned subsidiary of Yokohama Tire Corp. owes nearly $160,000 "as required by its import and re-sale of 4,978 commercial truck tires from Canada during that calendar year," government officials say.
Friend Tire -- which also sells passenger, farm and off-the-road tires -- could be punished with five years of corporate probation and a fine of $200,000 for each of the four counts.
If the company resolves its current tax issues with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) before sentencing, "the United States will recommend that (it) not be required to pay restitution and costs of persecution."
