Prosecutors Want a Guilty Plea Hearing for Southern

Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to schedule a guilty plea hearing for Gary Southern — the top executive charged in last year’s massive chemical spill. Southern faces federal pollution and bankruptcy fraud charges and faces up to 93 years in prison if convicted. Southern and four other ex-Freedom officials and the company itself have pleaded guilty to federal pollution violations in the spill. Another former Freedom president, Dennis Farrell, is the remaining official charged in the case. He pleaded not guilty to pollution charges.