Happy's Pizza owner gets 50-month prison sentence in tax case

DETROIT (AP) — The owner of the Happy’s Pizza chain has been sentenced to more than four years in prison for tax crimes.

Happy Asker appeared recently in Detroit federal court, months after being convicted of a scheme to conceal millions of dollars from the government.

Prosecutors had recommended more than 10 years in prison, but the judge settled on 50 months.

Asker’s lawyers acknowledged that a prison term was likely. But they had also asked Judge Denise Page Hood to consider two years of full-time community service so people could benefit from Asker’s entrepreneurial skills.

Happy’s Pizza has 75 stores, including 45 in Michigan.

The Internal Revenue Service says Asker and others diverted more than $6 million from approximately 35 stores in the Detroit area, Illinois and Ohio.