Ex-mayor sentenced in asbestos case

OKLAHOMA CITY, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- A former mayor of Elk City, Okla., was sentenced to six months in prison after being convicted of negligently exposing state prisoners to asbestos.

Guy Hylton Jr., who has served as Elk City manager since his mayoral term ended in 1993, was sentenced Thursday by a federal judge in Oklahoma City after his August conviction on a misdemeanor count of negligent endangerment, The Oklahoman reported Friday.

Charges were brought against Hylton, who was first elected mayor in 1987, and work crew manager Chick Arthur Little after prisoners were exposed to asbestos during a 2003 renovation project at a city-owned railroad depot.

U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton praised Hylton's history of public service but chided the former official after concluding that the evidence presented supported claims that Hylton knew or should have known about the asbestos in the building.

"He certainly had the authority or the responsibility to deal with those issues," the judge said in rejecting a plea for lenience from Hylton.

Mack Martin, Hylton's lawyer, said he planned to appeal the conviction.