Man Convicted of Breaking Levee

A man was convicted of intentionally breaking a Mississippi River levee during the 1993 Midwest floods and inundating 14,000 acres of farmland. James Scott, 29, of Fowler, Ill., could get life in prison at sentencing July 6 for causing a catastrophe. According to testimony, Scott broke the levee to strand his wife in Missouri so he could party in Illinois. He was accused of removing sandbags from a levee in West Quincy. The breach flooded farmland, destroyed dozens of businesses and forced the closing of one of the few bridges over the river still open. The jury in Hannibal took 2 1/2 hours to find him guilty. He was convicted in 1994 and sentenced to life in prison. But an appeals court overturned the verdict because prosecutors failed to notify the defense about two new witnesses whose testimony implicated him.