It looks like Vincent Sennen ‘Sunny’ Garcia, the former world champion surfer who pleaded guilty to withholding taxes earlier this year, is looking to go out on a high wave.

Garcia, who was sentenced to three months in federal prison for not paying taxes on $161,450 worth of prize winnings from various surfing competitions, is scheduled to compete in the Triple Crown of Surfing, which begins this week on the North Shore of Oahu, where the winter swells top 30 feet.

Garcia, a Hawaiian native who lives in Rancho Santa Fe, won the Triple Crown six times and became a world champion in 2000. He’s set to begin serving his sentence early next year.

Here’s what Garcia told the New York Times about his surfing plans:

“This is my way out of reality,” he said. “Go in the water, have fun, do what I do best. I’ve taken bad things and turned them into good things.”

And about personal finance:

“I learned one thing: Don’t trust your C.P.A., that’s for sure.”

DANIEL STRUMPF

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