Folks up in Stuart can expect a quieter 4th of July this year after a man caught with 20,000 pounds of fireworks in his garage was sentenced to 25 years behind bars.
James Buhs, 46, pleaded no contest to charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, illegal sale of fireworks, and drug possession in court Monday where the lengthy sentence was handed down, according to TCPalm.com.
Buhs, a convicted felon with at least two previous gun charges, had been stockpiling and selling the nearly ten tons of 'works -- about $100,000 worth -- from his house.
Police said the July raid on Buhs' home was one of the biggest fireworks seizures in Martin County history.
Buhs received 15 years for the fireworks sale but was hit with a mandatory 25 years for the gun possession. The sentences will run concurrently.
Busts on illegal fireworks sales in Miami last July 4th netted several hundred pounds of fireworks worth about $25,000.
