Jun 4, 4:29 PM EDT Inmate Backs Up Iowa Jail's Sewer System WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) -- An inmate who officials say flushed clothes down his jail cell toilet has been charged with criminal mischief. Dennis Earl Leahy, 55, of Cedar Rapids, was charged Thursday for the May 21 incident that backed up the Black Hawk County jail's sewer system and caused more than $1,000 in damage. Over 48-hour period, he flushed 14 T-shirts, 10 pairs of underwear, one sweat shirt and several towels, officials said. Sewer water flooded the basement storage area and disrupted the daily operation of the jail because several deputies had to be called away from their normal duties to spend two hours cleaning up the mess, officials said. Leahy was convicted in 2003 of burglary for taking items from a storage building and fraud for collecting sponsorships from businesses for a basketball game and golf outing that were to benefit nonexistent charities. The game never took place. He received a suspended sentence and was placed on probation. He later was arrested for taking an empty bottle of vodka into the Waterloo Residential Facility. --- Information from: Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, http://www.wcfcourier.com Latest News Inmate Backs Up Iowa Jail's Sewer System More Ailing Chickens Killed in Texas Avian Flu Found in Texas; Birds Destroyed Interactive Fighting the flu © 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Purchase this AP story for Reprint