California truck company owner pleads guilty in tank blast

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The owner of several Southern California trucking companies has pleaded guilty to felony charges involving tax evasion, COVID-19 relief fraud and an illegal repair of a tanker that resulted in a fatal explosion. The Los Angeles U.S. Attorney’s Office says 63-year-old Carl Bradley Johansson of Newport Beach entered the pleas Wednesday. The explosion occurred in 2014 when employees were ordered to weld a cargo tank that had not been completely purged of fumes and crude oil. One worker was killed and another was seriously injured. Other counts involved failing to file income tax returns and fraudulently obtaining $667,000 from the Paycheck Protection Program.