Two former Freedom Industries officials who were indicted on Clean Water Act charges have agreed to plead guilty in the governments case over the January 2014 Elk River chemical leak that contaminated the drinking water for hundreds of thousands of residents, prosecutors revealed in court documents filed Wednesday morning. <\/p>\n
Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Wright filed separate motions this morning in U.S. District Court in Charleston, asking to schedule guilty plea hearings in the cases involving former Freedom officials William Tis and Charles Herzing. <\/p>\n
U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin confirmed that Tis and Herzing had both reached plea agreements with his office. <\/p>\n
Tis and Herzing were both charged with three misdemeanor water pollution crimes in an indictment handed up by a federal grand jury in December. Both had pleaded not guilty. Trial was scheduled to start on March 10, but the defendants had already asked for a delay in the proceedings. <\/p>\n
The two men are among six former Freedom officials facing criminal charges following Goodwins investigation of the Jan. 9, 2014, spill of Crude MCHM and other chemicals from a storage tank at the companys facility, located just 1.5 miles up the Elk River from West Virginia American Waters regional drinking water plant. <\/p>\n
Former Freedom officials Dennis Farrell and Gary Southern both also face three Clean Water Act charges, and Southern faces separate bankruptcy fraud charges for allegedly trying to hide his personal wealth from Freedoms bankruptcy proceeding and from civil lawsuits filed against the company over the spill. Farrell and Southern have both pleaded not guilty. <\/p>\n
Also Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston agreed to delay trial in the cases from March 10 until Oct. 6. <\/p>\n
Pre-trial motions are due Aug. 21, responses due Aug. 28, and a pre-trial hearing was scheduled for Sept. 2, according to a two-page order Johnston entered Wednesday afternoon. <\/p>\n
Earlier in the day Wednesday, prosecutors also filed motions to schedule guilty plea hearings for Freedom Industries and for two other Freedom officials, Michael Burdette and Robert Reynolds, who face charges related to the spill. <\/p>\n
Freedom Industries has said in a prepared statement that it has reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors on one felony and two misdemeanor Clean Water Act charges outlined in an information filed against the company. An information is a charging document that generally indicates that the defendant is cooperating with authorities and has reached a plea agreement. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Read the rest here: <\/p>\n
Two Freedom officials to plead guilty, prosecutors say<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Two former Freedom Industries officials who were indicted on Clean Water Act charges have agreed to plead guilty in the governments case over the January 2014 Elk River chemical leak that contaminated the drinking water for hundreds of thousands of residents, prosecutors revealed in court documents filed Wednesday morning. Continue reading