Sewage Dumping in Desert Results In Jail Sentence?

http://www.kingmandailyminer.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&subsectionID=1&articleID=35679
Sewage dumper gets jail time
Erin Taylor, Miner Staff Reporter

Friday, February 5, 2010

KINGMAN - The manager of a septic pumping company who admitted to dumping raw sewage in the desert has been sentenced to 45 days in jail.

Michael Bray Whitten, 27, also received three years probation and 400 hours community service after he pleaded guilty to one felony count of littering.

Whitten was arrested in February after the Mohave County Sheriff's Office received a tip that employees of All American Septic Pumping were dumping raw sewage rather than taking it to the landfill for disposal.


Another employee of the company, John Evans Dunn, 46, has also pleaded guilty to one count of littering in the case. He will be formally sentenced Feb. 4.

According to court files, Whitten admitted to illegally unloading a 5,500-gallon tanker on a semi-regular basis. The illegal dumping took place in several locations, including along Faith Road in Dolan Springs, in a wash behind the company's business and in the desert on property owned by John Neal.

County Attorney Jace Zack said the state could not find evidence that the owner of All American was involved in the illegal dumping. He said it was the prosecution's belief that the employees were pocketing the cash given to them for landfill fees and then dumping the sewage elsewhere.

Zack asked Judge Rick Williams to sentence Whitten to at least 30 days in jail to serve as a deterrent.

"You can't dump, say you're sorry and not go to jail," he said.

Whitten's attorney, Joseph Carver, described his client as "a good man who did a bad thing." He said the idea that Whitten was pocketing the landfill fees was a convenient theory for the state, but that there was no evidence to suggest that's what actually happened.

Carver said the case was Whitten's first contact with law enforcement and a mistake he would not repeat.

"Here's a guy who will certainly never find himself in this position again," Carver said.

Williams said jail time in the case was appropriate. He cited the recent case of Maricopa County contractor Jeff Inglin, who was sentenced in December to 30 days in jail and 400 hours community service for dumping more than a ton of trash in the desert off of Temple Bar Road, at U.S. 93 mile marker 19.

"While you may live the other 99.9 percent of your life with honor, the court can't help but believe that you would still be out there dumping raw sewage if you hadn't been caught," he said.

Whitten will be allowed to serve his jail sentence in 48-hour increments through January 2011. He was also ordered to pay Neal $2,500. A hearing in March will determine restitution to the county.