Three local men sentenced to prison in federal asbestos case

photo The Standard Coosa Thatcher plant in this file photo from 2010.

Three men connected to asbestos contamination during the demolition of a local factory have been sentenced to federal prison time.

Chief U.S. District Judge Curtis Collier sentenced Donald Fillers to four years, David Wood to 20 months and James Mathis to 18 months.

Fillers was also ordered to pay a $20,000 fine and his company, Watkins Street Project was fined an additional $30,000.

The three defendants were ordered to pay nearly $28,000 in restitution for violations of the Clean Air Act.

A jury convicted the men on Jan. 27 of conspiracy and criminal violations of the act. Federal prosecutors proved the men illegally demolished the former Standard Coosa Thatcher plant causing "extensive amounts" of asbestos to pollute the site, located near residential housing and a daycare center.

For more details, see tomorrow's Times Free Press.

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