A federal judge has delayed sentencing for a Kansas metal finishing business and its owner while he mulls over arguments and decides on his proposed findings.

U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree said Monday he would enter an order later in the case against C&R Plating and owner Kevin L. Cline.

Cline and his company have admitted discharging untreated wastewater into a city sewer and submitting fraudulent samples and reports to conceal the dumping. They pleaded guilty in December to introducing pollutants into the water treatment system of the north-central Kansas community of Minneapolis.

The U.S. attorney’s office says the judge indicated at the hearing that this was a complex case and said it was better to get it right than do it quickly.

Another sentencing hearing will be scheduled.

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ORIGINAL: A Minneapolis metal finishing business and its owner have asked for leniency after discharging untreated wastewater into a city sewer and submitting fraudulent samples and reports to conceal the dumping.

C and R Plating and owner Kevin Cline will be sentenced Monday in federal court in Topeka. They pleaded guilty in December to introducing pollutants into the water treatment system of the north-central Kansas community of Minneapolis, knowing it could cause personal injury and property damage. The dumping deposited high zinc levels into the sludge of the city’s sewer lagoon.

The attorney for C and R and Cline asked the court Thursday to impose a probationary sentence without a fine so Cline could operate the business and make restitution. The company has employed between 25 and 33 residents over the past seven years.