In 1993, the Midwestern United States was submerged by extreme rainfall and historic flooding that resulted in tens of deaths, billions of dollars in damages, and a breach of levees up and down the Mississippi River. In the small river town of Quincy, Illinois, 24-year-old James Scott was convicted under an obscure 1979 Missouri law for intentionally "causing a catastrophe". His alleged crime was causing the West Quincy levee to fail and his alleged motive was to strand his wife on the other side of the river so he could be free to party and go fishing with his friends. Though no one died in this levee breach, James is the first and only person in Missouri history convicted under this law and is currently serving a life sentence.