FILE - In this Aug. 4, 2015 file photo, investigators work at the scene of a circus tent that collapsed the previous day when a storm blew through, toppling it and killing a father and his 6-year-old daughter at the fairgrounds in Lancaster, N.H. In a plea agreement on Wednesday, May 3, 2017, a judge ordered the Florida-based circus operator to pay $15,000 in fines for operating without a license. (AP Photo/Jim Cole, File)
May 03, 2017 - 1:58 PM
LANCASTER, N.H. - A judge has ordered a Florida-based circus operator to pay $15,000 in fines for operating without a license in New Hampshire following a tent collapse in 2015 that killed two people and injured dozens.
Sarasota-based Walker International Events pleaded guilty to the felony Wednesday in a plea agreement. Lesser charges dealing with fire, building code and reckless conduct allegations are to be addressed next week. Walker initially faced more than $200,000 in fines.
Forty-one-year-old Robert Young and his 6-year-old daughter, Annabelle, of Concord, Vermont, died when a storm blew through the Lancaster Fairgrounds. The judge didn't immediately rule in a separate hearing on a proposed settlement in a lawsuit filed by Young's wife.
The company, now out of business, has settled other lawsuits and agreed to pay federal safety fines.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017