Published: September 13, 2007 11:51 pm         

Federal sentencing delayed for WET chief

Sentencing for a Terre Haute businessman convicted in May of fraud in violating the federal Clean Water Act has been rescheduled for Oct. 23 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana in Indianapolis.

Derrik Hagerman, 53, president and owner of Wabash Environmental Technologies LLC, had been scheduled for sentencing Thursday.

Hagerman’s defense attorneys, William E. Marsh and James C. McKinley, withdrew their representation of Hagerman on July 31, according to court documents, but no reason for the withdrawal was given.

The defendant now is represented by Steven L. Blakely of Danville, Ill.

At the request of Hagerman’s attorney, Judge David F. Hamilton granted a motion to continue the sentencing hearing. Hagerman is objecting to a pre-sentence investigation report. Such reports contain information about a defendant’s past and are used by a judge to determine the appropriate sentence.

A jury found Hagerman and his company guilty of 10 counts of knowingly failing to report results of pollutant discharges into the Wabash River and creating false reports showing lower concentrations of phenol, zinc, copper, ammonia and biological oxygen demand that had gone into the river.

He could face up to two years in federal prison for each of the counts. During the trial, Hagerman, who plans to appeal, contended he was a victim of a scheme by some former employees to deceive him.