Louisiana Man Who Twice Urinated Into Public Water Plant Pleads Guilty

A Louisiana man who twice urinated into water at a public water plant has pleaded guilty to lesser charges and has been sentenced to probation.

The incident happened at a water plant in Ascension Parish back in 2023.

Michael Mastin, 58, of Baton Rouge was arrested then and initially charged with two counts of contaminating water supplies and two counts of criminal damage to critical infrastructure.

Prosecutors said Mastin once faced more serious felony charges but the facts of the case didn't coincide with those potential charges.

In court on Monday, Mastin reached a plea agreement in which he pleaded guilty to lesser charges of criminal trespass and misdemeanor criminal mischief.

As part of the plea agreement, Mastin received a suspended 7-month prison sentence and was ordered to pay a $500 fine plus court costs. He was also placed on probation for the next two years.

District Attorney Ricky Babin reiterated that the original, more serious charges didn't coincide with the facts of the case, thus, the result was lesser charges against the defendant.

Here's what Babin had to say about the case:

After reviewing all of the evidence and consulting with the utilities department it has been determined that the felony charges could not be supported. The criminal damage to a critical infrastructure charge requires an intentional damaging. After consulting with the parish, it was determined that nothing was actually damaged in the treatment facility. There appears to be no evidence that he intended to damage any portion of the facility. Specifically regarding the charge of Contaminating Water Supplies, the parish publicly made it very clear that the water was safe and was not contaminated. After consulting with the Utilities Department, they confirmed that the actions taken by the defendant were to bayou water that had not yet been filtered and that the actions of the defendant did not in fact contaminate the water supply. However, the defendant should not have placed anything into the filtration tank or otherwise tampered with the pretreated water. Therefore, he has agreed to plead guilty to the charges of Criminal Trespass and criminal mischief. While his actions seriously harm the public trust, they did not meet the requirements of the original felony charges.