A Kapolei man avoided additional jail time but was given a $5,000 fine on Wednesday for the distribution of illegal fireworks, representing a rare win in the state’s crackdown on unlicensed pyrotechnics.

Daniel C. Young was arrested on Dec. 11, 2023, for selling $1,500 worth of fireworks to an undercover officer posing as a buyer on Facebook Marketplace, according to a police report obtained by Civil Beat.

He pleaded no contest to possession of pyrotechnics without a license and the sale of fireworks to someone who did not have a valid permit, both felonies. Judge Clarissa Malinao of Oʻahu’s First Circuit Court on Wednesday sentenced Young to four years of supervised release, a $2,500 fine for each count and one day in jail with credit for time served.

During the sentencing hearing, Young’s attorney, Pedric Arrisgado, said his client turned to selling fireworks for quick money after losing his job during the pandemic and suffering from a stroke.

The tragedy in Salt Lake on New Year’s Eve, which killed six people and injured about 20 others, was like a “light bulb” for Young, Arrisgado said. He is “somewhat relieved that this is happening because he thinks he is now made aware that things could have been much worse.”

Young, 51, struggled to speak through silent tears as he addressed the court. “I’m sorry, and you won’t see me again in this court. I’m sorry to my family,” he said, turning to face his mother, children and grandchildren in the back of the courtroom.

Unable to get the words out, he turned back to the judge and tried to collect himself.

“He has clearly expressed remorse for his actions,” said Malinao. “Mr. Young took full responsibility, even at the moment when law enforcement became involved.”

Cases like Young’s are exceptionally rare, and prosecutions that result in serious penalties are even rarer. A Civil Beat investigation in 2023 found that cases related to illegal fireworks almost always go nowhere. Between 2018 and 2022, 94% of citations on Oʻahu were either dismissed or charges were dropped, according to an analysis of data provided by the state judiciary.

Young’s case is one of only two felony prosecutions stemming from the Department of Law Enforcement’s Illegal Fireworks Task Force since its creation in 2023.

Young was selling two dozen Gold Nishiki fireworks for $280 on Facebook Marketplace when an undercover officer contacted him in December 2023, according to the police report. The officer arranged to buy $1,500 worth of explosives, including four Gold Nishiki Canisters, three Polynesian Island Brand balls and two cake-style multi-shot fireworks emblazoned with animated movie characters from The Incredibles and Sonic the Hedgehog.

Young and the officer agreed to meet up later that day in the parking lot of a restaurant on Kapolei Parkway. Law enforcement arrested Young as the undercover officer unloaded the boxes of fireworks from the backseat of Young’s blue Toyota Tacoma truck.

At no point did Young ask the officer if he had a license to purchase fireworks, according to the police report. Young didn’t have a permit to sell fireworks, according to court documents.

Officers later searched Young’s house and found several boxes filled with hundreds of fireworks next to the front door, including 144 Whistling Moon Traveller bottle rockets, seven boxes of Super Slammer Shells, three 20-shot Sonic cakes and five Weapons of Warfare boxes, each holding 24 Gold Nishiki shells.

The rampant use of illegal fireworks in Hawaiʻi — especially on Oʻahu, where private aerial displays are banned — has been put under the political spotlight since the Salt Lake explosion on New Year’s Eve. Ten people have been arrested, but they are yet to be charged.

Law enforcement’s efforts to disrupt the distribution of illegal fireworks in the state have had limited success. In the last two years, there have been 50 fireworks citations on Oʻahu, according to court data analyzed by Civil Beat. That’s about half the number of citations issued annually in the last five years, even though fireworks “are likely being smuggled into Hawaiʻi daily,” according to a recent report from the Illegal Fireworks Task Force.

The task force also arrested another person, Wolfgang Clark, in a similar undercover operation. Clark pleaded no contest in December to charges related to the illegal distribution of aerial fireworks, a felony that carries a sentence of up to five years imprisonment and up to $10,000 in fines. He is set to be sentenced in March. Two other people arrested by the task force took a plea on misdemeanor charges.

Law enforcement officials say it’s difficult to get convictions in illegal fireworks cases because the current law only applies to unexploded devices, like those recovered in Young’s case. That makes it hard for prosecutors to go after people after they’ve set off the explosives. Proposed legislation aims to lower that legal threshold.

“We need to make it more straightforward,” said Gov. Josh Green in a press conference in January. “When an aerial goes up, there’s no question about it.”

CORRECTION: This story has been corrected to reflect the sentence and status of the prosecution.