Federal officials say a Lawrence man who owns MagnaGro International was taken into custody last week amid allegations he violated his probation from a 2009 case involving illegally discharging fertilizer waste into the city’s sewer system.

Richard Heffron, a supervisory deputy for the U.S. Marshal’s Office in Topeka, said Raymond Glen Sawyer, 59, was arrested on a warrant Friday and take to Douglas County Jail. He later was transferred to Topeka where he is being held until a hearing at 1 p.m. Friday.

Officials have not provided details about the alleged probation violation, but a sealed order has been filed in U.S. District Court.

In the 2009 case, Sawyer pleaded guilty to discharging waste from a fertilizer operation into the city’s sewer system. He was placed on probation for five years. Court documents from 2009 do not detail Sawyer’s probation terms, other than he and the company, 600 E. 22nd St., had to pay a $240,000 fine.

Sawyer’s defense attorney Chris Joseph said he plans to contest the government’s request to detain Sawyer while the case is pending.

In October, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a civil complaint and compliance order against MagnaGro for failing to tell the agency what hazardous wastes were on the site.

In April 2010, two men suffocated when they were overcome by fumes from a material being mixed at the site. City officials later declared the site “unfit for human occupancy” and boarded the doors.