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Landfill owner pleads guilty to organized crime ­ He deeds dump to Dallas for cleanup,
gets charges reduced
The Dallas Morning News ­ Thursday, May 9, 2002
Author: TIM WYATT, Staff Writer
The owner of a southeast Dallas landfill pleaded guilty Wednesday to organized­crime charges and then deeded the
landfill and its 2 million cubic yards of trash, asbestos and medical waste to the city for cleanup. Herman Nethery signed a confession in state District Judge Gerry Meier's court in exchange for reduced charges
and a jail sentence that matched the two years he has served in state prison. He also was fined $2,000. Mr. Nethery, who turned down several other plea bargains after an appeals court overturned his 1998 conviction
and 30­year prison sentence, also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor littering and received a 30­day jail term. Prosecutors dropped a second felony charge against the 48­year­old Mesquite man that involved defrauding waste
company owners into believing his 84­acre dump off Jim Miller Road near the Trinity River operated legally. The plea agreement Wednesday ended a five­year criminal prosecution. Mr. Nethery's original conviction was
overturned on trial error, then turned on its head when testimony in a federal civil trial revealed that city officials
knew about the dump ­ and used it ­ for more than a decade before state officials shut it down in 1996. Prosecutor Brian Flood said he was pleased with the conviction in light of a federal judge's ruling that also blamed
the city for allowing the dump to operate so long without proper permits and for not taking precautions for the safety
of a nearby neighborhood. "Still, he's pleading guilty because he did commit the crime," Mr. Flood said. Mr. Nethery's attorney, Ed Mason, said his client was "not joyously happy" but glad the case was over. "Contrary to popular folklore, Herman Nethery is not the devil," Mr. Mason said. "Now that all the parties concerned
are untangled from this case, they can go out and find another bogeyman to chase." Seven people who live near the dump sued Mr. Nethery, the city of Dallas and the Texas Natural Resource
Conservation Commission in 1997 under federal waste management law. U.S. District Judge Barefoot Sanders
released the state from liability but found Mr. Nethery and the city liable. One plaintiff in that lawsuit said Wednesday that Mr. Nethery wasn't the only party responsible. "I don't think he should have borne the whole blame," said Robert Stubblefield, 64, who lives near the site. "The
city should have exercised more control over the situation. They knew what was going on." Judge Sanders' finding of city liability was based partly on years of failed enforcement against the dump. The judge
also cited records showing that the city issued various permits for the site and even let a contractor take city­
owned waste there after learning that the operation was illegal. Thomas P. Perkins Jr., litigation division chief for the city attorney's office, did not return telephone calls
Wednesday. Mr. Perkins has said the city was willing to share responsibility. In 1999, Judge Sanders ordered the city to remove the waste and restore the site. The city hopes to reach a deal
that would let the waste remain at the dump, with a protective covering and monitoring. Judge Sanders will review that plan after state and city officials work out details. Staff writer Randy Lee Loftis contributed to this report. http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb
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Edition: SECOND
Section: METRO
Page: 35A
Record Number: 4372013
Copyright 2002 The Dallas Morning News
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