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Plea hearing requested for W.Va. chemical executive

2 min read

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Federal prosecutors are asking a federal judge to schedule a guilty plea hearing for the last executive charged in a massive chemical spill that contaminated West Virginia’s biggest drinking water supply last year.

In U.S. District Court in Charleston Tuesday, prosecutors asked Judge Thomas Johnston to set the hearing for former Freedom Industries executive Dennis Farrell.

Prosecutors generally file for guilty plea hearings when a defendant has agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge or charges, said U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin.

Farrell faces spill-related federal pollution charges and up to three years in prison if convicted. Michael Carey, Farrell’s attorney, did not immediately return a call for comment.

In January 2014, a dilapidated Freedom Industries tank in Charleston leaked coal-cleaning chemicals into the water supply for nine counties. The spill spurred a ban on using tap water for 300,000 people for up to 10 days.

Four ex-Freedom officials and the bankrupt company itself pleaded guilty to federal pollution charges. Those five sentencing hearings are scheduled for December.

Ex-Freedom president Gary Southern has an Aug. 19 guilty plea hearing.

Southern faces federal pollution and bankruptcy fraud charges. He’s charged with lying to protect his worth from legal action after the spill and faces up to 93 years in prison if convicted.

Southern and Farrell previously pleaded not guilty. Details of potential plea agreements for the two men were not released.

Their trial had been slated to start Oct. 6.

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