Youngsville Man Pleads Guilty In Pollution Case

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Lafayette says that a Youngsville man has pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge C. Michael Hill to one count of negligent discharge of pollutants.

56-year-old Robbie Mouton pleaded guilty this week.

Mouton is the owner of Robbie's Gauging Service Inc. in Youngsville.  During his plea hearing, Mouton admitted to discharging a mixture of produced water and crude oil into the Vermilion River between.

His crimes happened between January 6 and 19th in 2009 according to evidence presented at the hearing.

It happened at an oilfield exploration site in Milton, and Mouton admitted that he did not have permitting for the discharging.

No sentencing date has been set for Mouton yet, but he faces fines of between $2,500 to $25,000 for each day he discharged the mix.  He possibly also faces a year in prison and a year of supervised release.