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MMA and former employees plead guilty, fined $1.25 million in Lac-Mégantic case

Smoke rises from railway cars that were carrying crude oil after derailing in downtown Lac-Mégantic, Que., Saturday, July 6, 2013. Paul Chiasson / The Canadian Press

The bankrupt railway at the centre of the Lac-Mégantic train explosion and several of its former employees have settled with the federal government and were ordered to pay fines totalling $1.25 million.

READ MORE: 3 men found not guilty of criminal negligence in train derailment that killed 47 people

Montreal Maine and Atlantic (MMA) Railway pleaded guilty and was ordered Monday to pay $1 million for violating the Fisheries Act.

READ MORE: Jury sent back to deliberate after reaching an impasse

Six ex-MMA employees pleaded guilty to violating the Railway Safety Act and five of them were ordered to pay $50,000 each.

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Ex-train engineer Thomas Harding was given conditional sentence of six months in prison, which will be served in the community.

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WATCH BELOW: Lac-Mégantic trial

The charges against MMA and its former employees were brought by the Public Prosecution Service of Canada.

READ MORE: Are the right people on trial for Lac-Mégantic train disaster?

They were separate from the charge of criminal negligence causing death that Harding and two other ex-MMA employees were acquitted for in January in Quebec Superior Court.

A runaway MMA train derailed and exploded in Lac-Mégantic on July 6, 2013, killing 47 people and destroying part of the town’s downtown core.

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