"Sunny" was given to him by his mother, due to his cheerful disposition as an infant. Following his parents' divorce, Garcia lived with his mother near Mā'ili point, close to the beach. He has been married three times, most recently to Colleen McCullough in 2008, and has three teenage children from his first marriage. In October 2006, Garcia was sentenced to federal prison for tax fraud after failing to pay taxes on unreported contest winnings from 1996 to 2001. Garcia failed to report over US$471,000 in prize money on his tax returns for those years, resulting in a three-month sentence, beginning January 12, 2007, plus a further 7 months of house arrest and 80 hours community service with Goodwill. "I spent my money foolishly and didn't handle my affairs," he said outside the San Diego federal courtroom where he was sentenced. On 21 February 2011, the ASP Rules and Disciplinary Committee convened to assess an alleged brawl involving Garcia, Jeremy Flores and a local surfer, who allegedly dropped-in on Garcia's teenage son while surfing on 19 February 2011 on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In accordance with the ASP Rulebook, immediately following the incident, then-active surfer Jeremy Flores was suspended from the 4-star Breaka Burleigh Pro event at Burleigh Heads and then-eliminated surfer Garcia was suspended from the 4-star Burton Toyota Pro in Newcastle, New South Wales. An amateur cameraman who filmed the brawl alleged he was attacked by Sunny Garcia soon after, when he approached him on land. The cameraman lodged an official assault complaint with Gold Coast Police but withdrew it on the afternoon of 21 February 2011. Witnesses allege Garcia went after the cameraman, knocking him to the ground and inflicting deep grazes to his back and arms with one of the man's hands receiving injuries. The cameraman told police he wanted to drop his complaint after receiving threats from locals and Garcia's overseas supporters warning of retribution and sought to lay low in his native Brazil until the surf rage furore died down. The cameraman was quoted as saying, "I'm too scared to press charges...Garcia could go to jail and then people would want to get me. At the moment I just don't feel safe...I've had threats on the internet I don't know how I'd protect myself and my family if something happened". Garcia sought legal advice from high-profile Gold Coast lawyer Chris Nyst. On 3