The Latest: Sentencing reset for Alaska strip club owner

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Latest on sentencing of strip club owner in waste dumping case (all times local):

4:30 p.m.

A sentencing hearing has been cancelled for the second day in a row in the case of an Alaska man who was convicted of illegally dumping human waste into a harbour while operating a floating strip club.

Darren Byler is now set for sentencing Monday afternoon. He was set to be sentenced in Anchorage this week but twice was unable to make it after his flights, including one on Friday, from Kodiak Island were cancelled.

U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason rescheduled the sentencing after telling Byler by teleconference to book a Sunday flight to Anchorage.

Earlier Friday, Byler told The Associated Press in a phone interview that he was targeted in the case because of disapproval over his line of business on a converted crabbing boat, the “Wild Alaskan.”

Federal prosecutors are recommending that Byler receive an 18-month prison sentence. Byler’s attorney is asking for probation instead.

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10:50 a.m.

An Alaska man convicted of illegally dumping human waste into a harbour while operating a floating strip club says he plans to appeal whatever sentence is imposed Friday afternoon.

Hours before his sentencing, Darren Byler says in a phone interview with The Associated Press that he was targeted because of disapproval over his “entertainment charters.”

Federal prosecutors are recommending that Byler receive an 18-month prison sentence.

Byler was convicted in 2015 of dumping sewage in violation of the federal Refuse Act and for lying to federal authorities about it. His wife, Kimberly Riedel-Byler, was found not guilty of the same charges.

Prosecutors say Byler piped sewage aboard the 94-foot converted crabbing boat, the “Wild Alaskan,” into the harbour near Kodiak in 2014. The Bylers were accused of telling the Coast Guard they were properly disposing of the waste.