A Cleveland County business owner pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges filed by the North Carolina Department of Revenue.

Mark S. Ray of 102 Spurgeon Drive, Kings Mountain, pleaded guilty on Oct. 20, 2004 to two counts of failure to pay the state sales tax. Ray is president of Mark Ray Motorsports Inc.

Judge Dean Black issued Ray a 90-day suspended sentence. He was placed on unsupervised probation for 24 months. He was ordered to pay $22,003.96 to the Department of Revenue by Jan. 15, 2005 and to file all delinquent returns within 90 days and pay all fines and court costs. He was also ordered to file state corporate tax returns for 1998 through 2001 and personal income tax returns for 2001 and 2002.

The charges against Ray are the result of efforts by the Department’s Hickory Collections Office.

Last modified on: 10/31/07 03:44:12 PM .