Missing explosives lead to plea deal

Jace Radke

Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2002 | 11:01 a.m.

A federally licensed dealer of explosive materials has forfeited $232,000 to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms as part of a plea agreement reached Monday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas.

Austin Powder Co., a manufacturer and dealer of explosives for construction, mining and seismic exploration since 1833, agreed to the plea after an investigation revealed record-keeping errors and a failure to report the theft of explosives to the ATF.

"We know that they are missing some explosives, but we don't know what happened to them," ATF spokeswoman Marti McKee said. "It could have been something as simple as an overshipment, but their records weren't in order, so we don't know."

More than 1,000 pounds of low-yield premixed binary explosives are missing from Austin plants nationwide, McKee said.

The company, which has closed its Las Vegas office at 4300 N. Pecos Road, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to two misdemeanors -- failing to report a theft or loss of explosives and unlawfully storing explosives, McKee said.

The ATF investigation revealed several violations of state and federal laws, including record keeping omissions, distribution of explosives in violation of state law and distribution of explosive materials to prohibited persons.

Along with the forfeiture the company will pay an $8,000 fine, and has agreed to administrative sanctions, including permanent and temporary revocations of several licenses.

The company also agreed to expand its formal employee training program.