HUNTINGTON — A Mason County man has been sentenced to a year and a half in federal prison for dumping a pollutant into waters of the United States without a permit, according to U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin

Frank Zuspan, 61, previously pleaded guilty in September 2012 and admitted that in or about December 2010, he took a 2400-gallon sewage hauling truck to property in Mason County and illegally dumped sewage onto the property, according to Goodwin’s office.

Zuspan reportedly further admitted that the sewage was dumped into a lake and stream watershed in Mason County that connected to the Ohio River. The defendant also admitted that he discharged untreated sewage onto the Mason County property on multiple occasions between November 2010 and February 2011, according to a press release from Goodwin’s office via Spokesperson Melvin Smith.

“You can’t pour raw sewage into your neighbors’ water supply,” Goodwin said in a statement. “It’s dangerous and it’s illegal, for obvious reasons. People should know better.”

“Today’s sentencing proves that anyone who damages the environment and puts the public at risk will be vigorously prosecuted,” said David G. McLeod, Jr., special agent in charge of the Environmental Protection Agency’s criminal enforcement program in West Virginia.

The EPA conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Erik S. Goes and Special Assistant United States Attorney Perry McDaniel handled the prosecution.

The sentence was imposed by United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers.