Incarceration ordered in Greenfield pollution case

Apr. 21—SCRANTON — A former operator of Greenfield Twp.'s sewage treatment plant must spend one year and one day in federal custody for polluting water by discharging improperly treated sewage, a federal judge ordered.

Bruce Evans Jr. used a cane in U.S. District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion's courtroom, the result of an injury from a racing accident. Mannion told Evans his medical issues reduced the 27-month penalty he could have received under federal sentencing guidelines, but warned him he should still prepare for the consequences of his "serious offenses."

"We all have to breath the air and drink the water," Mannion said.

A federal jury in December 2021 found Evans, 41, guilty of four Clean Water Act violations and his father, Bruce Evans Sr., who managed the township's sewer authority, guilty of 20 violations, as well as several other charges.

Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania called 34 witnesses during a 10-day trial before Mannion. Jurors deliberated about six hours before rendering their verdict.

Bruce Evans Sr., 70, awaits sentencing.

The judge will recommend to the federal Bureau of Prisons that Bruce Evans Jr. serve his sentence in a medical facility as opposed to a prison.

According to court paperwork, he was injured in 2019 while racing at Penn-Can Speedway in Oakland Twp., Susquehanna County. He crashed a wingless sprint car into a wall and protective fencing and suffered a traumatic brain injury.

Shaking and sobbing, Marisa Evans, the defendant's wife, told the judge the fallout from her husband's criminal case led to harassment and alienation from the community.

Mannion acknowledged their suffering. Sentencing, which weighs the rights of the public, is felt hard by the accused's family, who he called "the victims that nobody realizes are victims."

Marisa Evans described Bruce Evans Jr. as a devoted member of his community, exhibited by his willingness to volunteer as a firefighter. His selflessness is what made Marisa Evans fall in love with him.

"This situation has not just affected Bruce, it has affected our entire family," she said.

Prosecutors alleged father and son failed to operate and maintain the treatment plant to ensure discharges into a tributary of Dundaff Creek met with federal standards. The tributary flows into Tunkhannock Creek, which flows into the Susquehanna River.

A multiyear investigation found repeated warnings regarding deficient inspections, permit violations and resident complaints of foul odors and visible raw sewage.

The pair said the plant's former engineer, David Klepadlo, was to blame. Klepadlo pleaded guilty in 2018 to falsifying records and tampering with a witness. He was sentenced in 2020 to three years of supervised release and one year of home detention.

Bruce Evans Jr. was not qualified for his position in the plant and, but for his father's position in the township, would not have been hired, Mannion said. It was "classic political corruption," the judge said.

"I tried to do my best," Bruce Evans Jr. said. "I would say I was misled on how to do my best."

That does not mean that the 41-year-old's actions were acceptable, the judge said before imposing the sentence.

After the hearing, defense attorney Bernard Brown said though the family hoped for a sentence that could be served at home, "we understand how (Mannion) got there."

Mannion set Bruce Evans Jr. a May 26 deadline to surrender to federal custody so he could attend his daughter's 10th birthday and see his stepson complete United States Marine Corps training.

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jkohut@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100, x5187;

@jkohutTT on Twitter.