COLUMBIA, SC (WBTW) – United States Attorney Beth Drake announced Wednesday that a fireworks company based in Marion pleaded guilty in federal court to smuggling.
The press release says Judge R. Bryan Harwell of Florence accepted the guilty plea Tuesday and plans to sentence Atlas Importers, Inc. at a later date.
Evidence presented in court established that between November 2013 and late 2016, Atlas Importers repeatedly imported unapproved fireworks for sale in the United States. These fireworks were also omitted from invoices to conceal their presence in shipping containers, the press release says.
Many of the fireworks had been modified to change the powder ratios from what had been approved. In many cases, the effect powders were increased and the launch powders decreased.
The maximum penalty is a fine of $500,000 and supervised release of five years.
The case was investigated by agents of the Office of the Inspector General, Department of Transportation. Assistant United States Attorney Winston David Holliday, Jr. of the Columbia office is prosecuting the case, the release says.
