MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Federal authorities in Tennessee say a woman has pleaded guilty to illegally dumping wastewater into the Mississippi River after washing U.S. Postal Service vehicles.
Constance Pritchett, 59, faces up to one year in federal prison after she pleaded guilty to depositing refuse in navigable waters, the U.S. attorney's office in Memphis said in a news release Friday.
Prosecutors say Pritchett had a contract to wash postal service vehicles and postal service locations throughout the Memphis area in 2015. The contract required her company, Crossroads Mobile Service, to collect all wastewater in accordance with federal law, prosecutors said.
An investigation by postal inspectors showed Crossroads employees failed to properly collect wastewater, which then entered Memphis' sewer system, prosecutors said. Wastewater then entered the Mississippi River in Memphis.
Sentencing is scheduled April 10.