The former president of the company that contaminated drinking water for 300,000 West Virginians has been sentenced to one month in prison — the minimum sentence allowed for the crimes at hand. The Charleston Gazette-Mail’s Ken Ward Jr. reported the sentencing of Freedom Industries’ former president Gary Southern on Wednesday. In addition to one month of prison time, Southern was also given a $20,000 fine for charges related to the January 2014 spill. Under federal guidelines, the recommended sentence was 24 to 30 months and a fine of up to $300,000. “This defendant is hardly a criminal,” U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston said after handing down the sentence, according to Ward. “I stand by that statement.”
— Read more thinkprogress.org
judge please define what crime is.