No ‘Guilty Mind,’ But Guilty Nonetheless

In 2007, Lewis and his staff diverted a backed-up sewage system into an outside storm drain — one they long believed was connected to the city’s sewage-treatment system — to prevent flooding in an area where the sickest residents lived. In fact, the storm drain emptied into a creek that ultimately reaches the Potomac River.

He pleaded guilty because it was a strict liability case, meaning there was no mens rea requirement.

“I got a criminal record from my job — when I thought I was doing the right thing?”

See: http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2011/12/12/no-guilty-mind-but-guilty-nonetheless/