Ogden • A man who was featured in a Sundance documentary has pleaded guilty to assault charges.
Joemalone Tevita Kaufusi, now 22, was accused of beating his then-girlfriend multiple times over the course of several months, punching her in the chest, banging her head into the wall, using a shoe to assault her and choking her with a chain.
Kaufusi, a former star lineman at Highland High School, was featured in the documentary "In Football We Trust," about high school players of Pacific Islander descent aiming for careers in the NFL. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this year.
The former Weber State University student pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and attempted aggravated assault in separate but related plea deals with prosecutors in two counties.
Lawyers for Kaufusi did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
In September, Weber State officers canceled a two-day diversity event that would have showcased Kaufusi and the documentary after the victim's family and others wrote to the school urging them not to screen the documentary. The 19-year-old victim posted on social media that "it would really hurt me and be a slap in the face if they showed this movie," adding that Weber officials were quick to respond and canceled the program.
Kaufusi enrolled at Weber State in fall 2014 as a professional-sales major and played rugby, according to a school spokeswoman, but left the school following a disciplinary committee's review of the charges, filed in March.
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