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• February 2003: Siemaszko says his warnings were ignored

• April 2003: FirstEnergy blames Siemaszko for rust hole

TOLEDO -- A former nuclear power plant engineer in Ohio has been sentenced to three years on probation and fined $4,500 for helping to cover up the worst corrosion ever found at a U.S. reactor.

Andrew Siemaszko (si-MAS'-ko) was sentenced Friday in federal court in Toledo. He had faced up to five years in prison.

He was convicted of misleading regulators in 2001 in order to delay a safety inspection at the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant along Lake Erie.

Inspectors later found an acid leak that nearly ate through the reactor's 6-inch-thick steel cap.

Defense attorneys have said Siemaszko was set up as a scapegoat because he spoke out about safety concerns.

The plant operator, FirstEnergy Corp., has paid $33.5 million to settle civil and criminal cases.