CLEVELAND, Ohio - A Poland businessman is going to prison for ordering two former employees to discharge brine and oilfield waste into a Youngstown storm sewer.

A federal judge sentenced Ben Lupo to 28 months in prison, and fined him $25,000 for violating the Federal Clean Water Act by ordering two former employees of his Hardrock Excavating Company to dump oil and gas well waste into a storm sewer on Salt Springs Road in Youngstown.

Lupo apologized to the court and the community for his crime as he stood in front of the Judge, but when he left the courthouse he appeared defiant. As he opened the door to an awaiting SUV Lupo told 21 News, "What happened here was not justice. If you want to know the real story call us in a couple of weeks and we'll tell you."

In testimony before Tuesday's sentencing, Kurt Kollar of the Ohio EPA took the stand in a Federal Courtroom in Cleveland and showed the courtroom a jar of the oil found in the Mahoning River following the dumping incident.

Kollar showed photographs of the spill, that the U.S. Attorney says led to an extensive clean-up effort that cost a total of $3.1-Million. Lupo himself ultimately agreed to cover the cost and hire an environmental contractor to do the clean-up.

Lupo's doctor of 30 years, Dr. Thomas Detesco, testified that at one point, Lupo was hospitalized for four days because he was a threat to his own safety. The doctor said that Lupo felt betrayed by a former business partner.

Doctor Detesco also said that Lupo suffered kidney failure in 2009. He says that at the time of the spill in February 2013, Lupo was on 19 medications related to medical problems.

Lupo's attorney argued that his client should only be sentenced to probation or house arrest because a prison sentence could be a death sentence for him. The defense also offered to pay a large fine. The government asked for the maximum three year prison sentence, but U.S. Attorney Steve Dettelbach says he's pleased with the sentence that was handed down by the Judge.

"Today's sentence was a significant sentence, but it was fully justified by Mr. Lupo's repeated decision to have pollutants dumped into tributaries of the Mahoning River. It happened 31 different times. That's why Mr. Lupo is justifiably going to prison for a significant period of time," U.S. Attorney Dettelbach said.

Lupo will be allowed to turn himself in to begin his sentence.