California utility giant PG&E was found guilty Tuesday of obstructing a federal investigation into a devastating natural gas explosion six years ago that killed eight people and decimated an entire neighborhood.

The company was convicted of five felony charges for intentionally not inspecting gas lines, in addition to the one charge for intentionally obstructing a federal investigation into the blast.

Another six charges related to violating federal safety standards were dropped.

The verdict in the criminal trial means the company will be fined a maximum of $6 million, which is far less than a proposed amount of $562 million suggested by prosecutors. The amount of the fine will be determined later by the jury.

The state's public utility commission had fined PG&E a whopping $1.6 billion for the blast that engulfed a residential neighborhood of 38 houses and injured dozens in addition to the eight that were killed.