The sentence for Pasquale Punzo, identified as the de facto operator of the clandestine fireworks workshop in Ercolano where three young workers died, has become final at 14 years and six months. Punzo did not file an appeal, so the sentence therefore became definitive after the reduction provided for under the Cartabia reform.

The case concerns the explosion of 18 November 2024 in an unlicensed fireworks production site in Ercolano. Three workers assembling material intended for the production of firecrackers, known in Italian as botti, were killed.

The victims

The three people killed were Samuel Tafciu, 18, and twins Aurora and Sara Esposito, both 26.

According to the reconstruction reported in the sources, they worked in the assembly of pyrotechnic material in an activity that lacked the required authorisations and regular employment protections. The same reconstruction reported that Samuel received 250 euros per month and each of the twins received 150 euros per month.

The sentences so far

At first instance, Punzo had been sentenced to 17 years and six months. After he did not appeal, his penalty stands definitively at 14 years and six months.

The first-instance verdict had also sentenced Vincenzo D'Angelo to 17 years and six months and Raffaele Boccia to four years in connection with the 18 November 2024 explosion.

What happens next: the appeal for the other defendants

On 2 October 2026, the second-degree trial began before the Naples Court of Assizes of Appeal for Vincenzo D'Angelo and Raffaele Boccia.

No final outcome for their appeal is reported in the sources consulted. The definitive legal characterisation of the responsibility of the defendants still facing appeal remains to be verified against the judicial records.

What the verified reporting establishes

First, the core facts are corroborated by more than one independent report: the date and place of the explosion, the clandestine nature of the workshop, the identities and ages of the three victims, and the first-instance penalties imposed on Punzo, D'Angelo and Boccia.

Second, the procedural positions have now diverged: Punzo's case is closed because he did not appeal, while the cases of D'Angelo and Boccia continue in the appeal proceedings that opened in Naples. Readers following the case should therefore distinguish between the final sentence for Punzo and the still-open appeal for the other two defendants.