A former employee of the water department in Stoughton, Massachusetts, is accused of tampering with the town's drinking water supply and lying to federal investigators about it.
Robert J. Bullock Sr., 58, of Brockton was indicted by a federal grand jury, the U.S. Attorney's Office of Massachusetts said Thursday.
Prosecutors allege that on Nov. 29, 2022, Bullock went into a department pumping station and turned off the pump that puts chlorine - a common disinfectant - into the drinking water. This allowed insufficiently disinfected water into the system. Bullock is further accused of lying to federal investigators about whether he tampered with the system.
Bullock was indicted on two counts of making false statements and one count of tampering with a water system. The tampering charge carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison - the false statement charges a sentence of up to five.
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He was released on conditions following an initial appearance in federal court in Boston Thursday afternoon.
More details were not immediately available.
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