Owner Of Sierra Mine Surrenders To Face Charges
SACRAMENTO (AP) — The owner of a Sierra Nevada mine has surrendered to face 14 criminal charges of operating without permits and polluting a creek.
Joseph Hardesty also faces state fines of nearly $900,000 for operating what government officials say is in illegal gold mine.
He was booked Thursday into El Dorado County Jail on the charges, which include four felonies, and was being held in lieu of $75,000 bond.
His attorney, William Brewer, says Hardesty turned himself in after investigators from the district attorney's office searched for him at his mother's home and the home of his partner in the Big Cut Mine, near Placerville.
He surrendered a day after The Associated Press published a story about the mine, which is between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe, and his three-year battle with authorities.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press)
