A Kaysville taxi company owner's idea on how to drive his competitors out of business last March has landed him in the state prison.
Michael L. Paolone, 32, was sentenced to up to five years in prison this week after pleading guilty to a reduced charge of arson in the March 11 firebomb attack on a rival taxi firm's cars in Layton.But Paolone may spend much longer than that in prison. Second District Judge Jon Memmott also sentenced him to a consecutive one-to-15-year prison term on Paolone's June conviction of sexually abusing a teenage girl who worked for him.
Paolone pleaded guilty last month to arson, a third-degree felony, in the March 11 incident. He also pleaded guilty to forgery and attempted theft, also third-degree felony charges.
Paolone, owner of Tri-County Taxi, admitted to attaching a firebomb to a vehicle owned by Sunshine Taxi, a rival Layton firm. The device ignited and damaged the car, but a trail of flammable liquid laid down to two other vehicles failed to ignite.
Paolone faced first-degree felony charges in the firebomb incident in addition to aggravated assault and illegally discharging a firearm, also felonies, in an unrelated incident in January in Lay-ton. He was charged with firing a handgun at the home of a person who owed him money.
Paolone fled the state after the March incident and was arrested in April in a suburb of Boise after a two-hour standoff with police.
Paolone agreed to plead guilty to the reduced felony counts in the firebomb attack and the other charges were dismissed.
He was convicted of sexually abusing a 16-year-old girl who worked for him in his taxi business in a June trial.
Memmott first sentenced Paolone to zero to five years in prison on the charges of arson, attempted theft and forgery, then added one to 15 years on the sexual abuse conviction. The judge also ordered Paolone to pay some $4,000 in restitution.
A second man, Roger McIntyre, 27, Layton, who worked for Paolone as a driver and dispatcher, has also pleaded guilty in connection with the firebomb incident and is scheduled for sentencing Sept. 3.