Entertainer Andy Bumatai was fined $2,500 and ordered to perform 300 hours of community service after pleading guilty to failing to file his annual general excise taxes.

Bumatai was charged in May with five counts of willful failure to file the state excise tax returns for 2002 through 2006, according to the state Department of Taxation.

The 55-year-old comedian pleaded guilty on June 18 and was sentenced by District Judge Faye Koyanagi on Sept. 3.

The charges were misdemeanors and Bumatai could have been sentenced to a year in prison and fined up to $25,000 on each count. But Koyanagi granted Bumatai's request for a deferral of his guilty plea, meaning his record could be wiped clean if he stays out of trouble for a year.

Bumatai paid the back taxes prior to being sentenced, the state said. The amount was not disclosed.

Bumatai could not be reached for comment yesterday. But Howard Chang, Bumatai's attorney, said his client has taken "full responsibility for what he did wrong."

"He had many things going on in his life during that time period," Chang said. "He had many financial pressures and other things going on in his life that I guess distracted him."

The violations occurred during a period when Bumatai's production company, NightTime Productions LLC, was receiving state high-technology tax credits under Act 221. The state adopted the act in 2001 to encourage investment in technology companies.

Bumatai has been a familiar face in clubs and on television for decades as a standup comedian and actor, as well as a talk-show host. In the late 1970s, he replaced Rap Reiplinger in the popular comedy group Booga Booga before going out on his own.

He starred in one-man comedy TV specials, including "All in the Ohana," and later took his comedy act to the Mainland. Most recently, Bumatai hosted a locally produced late-night talk show, "NightTime with Andy Bumatai," and is the current host of "Pipeline's Got Talent," a local spinoff of the hit reality TV show, "America's Got Talent," at the Pipeline Cafe in Kaka'ako.