PITTSBURGH _ A Pennsylvania fireworks company admitted Monday that it didn't report the theft of about 63,000 commercial grade fireworks stolen by an employee two years ago.
Zambelli International Fireworks pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of failure to report loss of explosive material, a misdemeanor filed in January.
U.S. District Judge David Cercone immediately ordered the business to pay a $195,000 civil forfeiture and a $5,000 fine.
The amounts and penalties were worked out in a plea deal with the U.S. attorney's office, which refused comment.
"We regret the situation and we accept responsibility and we would like to move on," said attorney Barry Hartman, who entered the plea on behalf of Zambelli.
The company had previously been suspended from selling or shipping fireworks for two weeks, which Zambelli announced in January following an investigation by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
During an unrelated criminal case in 2014, Zambelli said, state police discovered the stolen fireworks in a former employee's house.
ATF then began an investigation, because fireworks companies are required to keep track of their inventories and report on them regularly.
Agents discovered that the company was aware that the explosives were missing from its main warehouse but didn't report the loss to federal or state authorities within 24 hours.
Ed Meyer, managing partner at Zambelli, said in a statement that the company worked with ATF and that none of its clients were impacted by the suspension or the investigation.
"This is a very serious issue that relates to poor record-keeping, not to the strength of Zambelli Fireworks," he said.
Founded in 1893, Zambelli puts on hundreds of fireworks shows every year.
