A 10-year-old federal conviction for illegally importing and selling fireworks resulted in the arrest Tuesday of a Mt. Pleasant Township man who admitted illegally possessing multiple firearms and ammunition, according to court records.

Howard W. “Tubs” McCloy Jr., 35, of the village of Bridgeport, was ordered to the county jail without bond after his arrest just after noon inside his residence, an 8-foot by 20-foot camping trailer, parked along the 400 block of Bridgeport Road.

Trooper James McKenzie wrote in court papers that state police went to McCloy’s trailer in the ongoing probe of a stolen motorcycle.

McCloy has a hearing pending before East Huntingdon Judge Charles Moore on multiple traffic charges of driving on a suspended license and driving a motorcycle without registration or title after state police made a Nov. 20 traffic stop on East Main Street in Mt. Pleasant.

Troopers seized the motorcycle because McCloy had no information on its ownership, according to court documents.

When two troopers arrived at McCloy’s residence in connection with the theft probe, McCloy invited investigators inside, McKenzie wrote in court documents

During a discussion, McKenzie said “(McCloy) voluntarily opened a wooden cabinet on the counter which revealed numerous boxes of (firearm) ammunition.”

Troopers asked if there were any firearms in the residence, and McCloy directed troopers to a muzzleloader and .32-caliber rifle he claimed belonged to a girlfriend, McKenzie wrote in court papers

Officers also seized a .45-caliber handgun during a consent search, McKenzie said.

McCloy pleaded guilty in November 2011 in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh to federal charges of criminal conspiracy and dealing in explosives without a license, and the conviction makes it illegal for him to possess firearms or ammunition, according to McKenzie, who works out of Troop A in Greensburg.

In the fireworks probe, agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also arrested McCloy’s father, Howard F. McCloy, now 74, and uncle James E. McCloy, 71, who also were convicted after a 2008 raid of the family’s property in Bridgeport. At the time, federal agents said the family had a large-scale, black market fireworks operation that had been in business for decades.

According to that indictment, the men sold shipments of up to 100 cases at a time in Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland, sometimes earning as much as $3,000 per transaction.

In addition to consumer and display fireworks, agents said the McCloys dealt in flash powder and M-80s and M-200s, which are illegal and classified as explosives under federal law.

During the June 2008 raid, agents said they seized 13,000 explosive devices in trailers on the property.

Howard F. McCloy served one year and three months in prison, while McCloy Jr. was sentenced to three years probation with the first six months of home confinement. James McCloy, who authorities said was the ringleader, was sentenced to serve four years and three months, followed by three years’ probation.

McCloy’s hearing on the new complaint is scheduled Feb. 8.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)