December 1, 2009

HARLEM, Ga.---The former Harlem Public Works Director was sentenced today. Daniel Cason received one year in prison.

Cason pleaded guilty in March of this year to three counts of making false statements in records and reports regarding the city's Wastewater Treatment Plant's measurements of fecal coliform and biochemical oxygen.

United States District Court Judge J. Randall Hall determined that Cason knowingly caused pumping with a portable pump from the Treatment Plant into Uchee Creek without a permit to do so. Judge Hall ruled that it resulted in an ongoing, continuous, or repetitive discharge, release, or emission of a pollutant into the environment.

Cason will also be required to pay a $3,000 fine and a special assessment of $300. After he is released, Cason will serve a year of supervised release during which he must complete 100 hours of community service.

Residents in the Harlem and Grovetown area are mixed in their reaction to the news of the sentencing. Some say the sentencing is too harsh, while others say it's too light.