HONOLULU— A project manager of a company accused of mishandling fireworks that led to a deadly 2011 Hawaii explosion has pleaded guilty. ADVERTISING HONOLULU— A project manager of a company accused of mishandling fireworks that led to a deadly 2011
HONOLULU— A project manager of a company accused of mishandling fireworks that led to a deadly 2011 Hawaii explosion has pleaded guilty.
HONOLULU— A project manager of a company accused of mishandling fireworks that led to a deadly 2011 Hawaii explosion has pleaded guilty.
Carlton Finley pleaded guilty Friday to improperly storing explosives. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agree to dismiss charges in an indictment including conspiracy and making a false statement.
A grand jury indicted Finley, the company Donaldson Enterprises and its director of operations, Charles Donaldson. Donaldson and the company are scheduled to go to trial next month.
According to Finley’s plea agreement, he knowingly allowed seized fireworks to be stored illegally. He faces up to a year incarceration and a fine of up to $100,000.
Five Donaldson employees were killed in a blast so ferocious it scorched trees 40 feet away. The company had a contract to dispose of commercial grade fireworks seized by federal law enforcement.
Employees spent seven months breaking apart fireworks and soaking them in diesel fuel after a temporary emergency permit to handle them as waste expired, according to the indictment.
The fireworks were warehoused in a former military bunker in Waikele, a Honolulu suburb. Donaldson rented the 4,000-square-foot World War II-era bunker to store the fireworks, which were considered evidence.
The explosion was ruled accidental. Investigators said the explosion was not likely malicious.
Civil lawsuits by the families of the five men who were killed are pending.
