Tennessee Man Pleads Guilty in Cigarette Lighter Case Investigation Targets Removal of Child-Resistant Mechanisms

% (CPSC) announced today that a 51-year-old Memphis, Tenn., man has pled guilty to making a false statement to a CPSC investigator. Donald M. Anthony, a former distributor of cigarette lighters, admitted that he lied to a CPSC investigator to conceal his sale of non-child-resistant lighters. Mr. Anthony pled guilty to one felony count and faces a maximum sentence of 5 years imprisonment and/or a fine of $250,000. The guilty plea resolves an indictment announced in July.

Anthony operated National Marketing, a now-defunct Memphis business that distributed cigarette lighters to convenience stores and other distributors nationwide. Anthony pled guilty to making false statements about whether National Marketing was removing the child-resistant mechanisms from lighters and then reselling them. Sentencing is scheduled for January 21, 2000.

"This case shows that the CPSC aggressively enforces our safety standards and pursues companies that undermine our investigations," said CPSC Chairman Ann Brown. "The cigarette lighter standard prevents fires and saves lives - especially the lives of children."

Before cigarette lighters were required to be child-resistant, an average of 150 persons were killed and nearly 1,100 injured each year as a result of residential fires started by children younger than 5 who were playing with lighters. Average annual property damage from such fires totaled almost $70 million.

The CPSC has launched investigations across the country in the past two years to recall lighters that do not meet federal standards and to prosecute companies and individuals that disable the child-resistant mechanisms. In May, CPSC announced an injunction against two California retail chains, Cigarettes Cheaper and the Customer Company, for selling lighters with disabled child-resistant mechanisms. CPSC is seeking civil penalties from the retailers and three of its corporate officers, as well as from an Arkansas distributor, American Buyers, and its corporate officer.

The U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Consumer Litigation is representing the Commission in federal court.