Vineland Fireworks Co. v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives

544 F.3d 509, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 21374, 2008 WL 4530536
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedOctober 10, 2008
Docket07-2381
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 544 F.3d 509 (Vineland Fireworks Co. v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Vineland Fireworks Co. v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, 544 F.3d 509, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 21374, 2008 WL 4530536 (3d Cir. 2008).

Opinions

OPINION OF THE COURT

FISHER, Circuit Judge.

Vineland Fireworks Co., Inc. (“Vine-land”) appeals the decision of the Acting Director (“Director”) of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (“ATF”) to revoke its license to manufacture fireworks and to deny its application for the renewal of its license to import fireworks. The Director found that Vine-land’s failure to keep records of its daily summary of magazine transactions on thirty-six occasions over the course of many months constituted a willful violation of 18 U.S.C. § 842(f) and 27 C.F.R. § 555.127. We hold that the Director’s interpretation of “willful” is reasonable, and substantial evidence supports its finding that Vineland “willfully violated” the above provisions. For the reasons that follow, we will deny the petition for review of the Director’s order.

I.

Vineland is a fireworks manufacturer and distributor owned and operated by Rose Pacitto with locations in Vineland, New Jersey and Coamo, Puerto Rico. Vineland applied for and became licensed by ATF in March 2000. For approximately eleven years prior to her application, Pacitto worked at Fireworks by Girone, a fireworks manufacturer and distributor owned and operated by Felix Girone, Pa-citto’s former husband. Fireworks by Gir-one operated out of the same site that later became Vineland.

In 1999, the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey indicted Fireworks by Girone for knowingly and willfully manufacturing explosive materials without keeping proper records, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2, 842(f), and 844(a). The indictment stemmed from ATF inspections in 1995 and 1996, in which inspectors found that Fireworks by Girone had manufactured thousands of explosive devices without record and had improperly stored the devices. The investigators discussed the violations with Pacitto at that time because the company’s federal explosives license listed her as a “responsible person.”1 Fireworks by Girone pleaded guilty to the charge, and Pacitto (then as Rose Girone) signed the plea agreement. Subsequently, ATF revoked Fireworks by Girone’s license.

In November 2000, after Fireworks by Girone’s license was revoked and Pacitto had begun operating on the site under the new license for Vineland, ATF contacted Pacitto and informed her of its earlier inspection of Fireworks by Girone in July 1999 and the violations it found. In particular, these violations included “failure to maintain records of the daily magazine transactions for explosives” for approximately a two-week period in violation of 27 C.F.R. § 555.127. On December 20, 2000, ATF and Pacitto met to discuss these violations, and ATF instructed Pacitto on the requirements for compliance with federal explosives law.2

[512]*512On July 2, 2003,3 ATF conducted a safety walk-through inspection of Vineland, and it cited Vineland for two violations: (1) pre-loading trucks with explosives without a pre-loading variance; and (2) improperly storing fireworks. On July 2, 2004, ATF again conducted a safety walk-through inspection of Vineland, and it cited Vineland for three violations: (1) pre-loading trucks with explosives without a pre-loading variance; (2) improperly storing fireworks and high explosive bulk salutes; and (3) failing to keep proper records of fireworks and salutes. Pacitto signed the violations report, and on August 4, 2004, she met with ATF to discuss the violations in a “warning conference.” Subsequently, ATF sent Pa-citto a letter, stating: “You are reminded that future violations, repeat or otherwise, could be viewed as willful and may result in the revocation of your license.”

On October 13, 2004, ATF again conducted a safety walk-through inspection of Vineland. The ATF inspectors found a number of violations, and on August 22, 2005, the Director of Industry Operations (“DIO”) for the Philadelphia Field Division of ATF issued a notice of revocation of Vineland’s license to manufacture explosives pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 843(d). The DIO also issued a notice denying Vine-land’s application for a renewal of its license to import fireworks pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 843(b).

On July 25, 2005, ATF inspectors conducted a safety walk-through inspection of Vineland’s facility in Puerto Rico and found a number of additional violations. On December 2, 2005, the DIO amended the notices to include these additional violations. The amended notices set forth thirteen violations, each of which charged that Vineland had “willfully failed” to comply with federal laws and ATF regulations. We summarize the charged violations as follows:

(1) Willful failure to properly store explosive materials in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 842© and 27 C.F.R. §§ 555.29, 555.201, 555.203(d), 555.210, and 555.215. Vineland stored twenty-five pounds of deteriorated stars in a trailer that also contained deteriorated chemicals, and the trailer was not an approved type 4 magazine.
(2) Willful failure to properly store explosive materials in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 842© and 27 C.F.R. §§ 555.29 and 555.224. Vineland had three magazines within 200 feet of the trailer in count (1) and less than 300 feet from a road.
(3) Willful failure to properly store explosive materials in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 842© and 27 C.F.R. §§ 555.29, 555.210, and 555.215. On October 13, 2004, Vineland did not have “adequate locks, hoods[,] and hinges” on its storage containers.
(4) Willful failure to properly maintain records in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 842(f) and 27 C.F.R. § 555.127.

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544 F.3d 509, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 21374, 2008 WL 4530536, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vineland-fireworks-co-v-bureau-of-alcohol-tobacco-firearms-explosives-ca3-2008.