HONOLULU -- A Kauai grand jury on Friday indicted landowner Jimmy Pflueger on manslaughter and reckless endangerment charges, Attorney General Mark Bennett said.

The grand jury handed down seven counts of manslaughter and one count of reckless endangerment, Bennett said.

The case is in connection with the Kaloko Dam break in March 2006. Following heavy rains, Kaloko Dam on Kauai's north shore failed. A torrent of more than 1 million gallons of water rushed down from the reservoir, killing seven people.

Victims:

Alan Gareth Dingwall

Daniel Jay Arroyo

Rowan Grey Makana Fehring-Dingwall

Aurora Solveig Fehring

Christina Michelle McNees

Timothy Wendell Noonan Jr.

Carl Wayne Rotstein

The landslide and flooding left massive amounts of debris surrounding the Wailapa Stream.

Pflueger owns the Kaloko Reservoir. The state attorney general said Pflueger altered the dam and covered over its spillway, contributing to the deaths of seven people.

"The presentation of this case to a grand jury on the County of Kauai is the culmination of a criminal investigation that took close to three years," Bennett said.

Pflueger's attorney said his client is not responsible for the deaths, because he did not own the dam. He also said the state should be liable because it failed to inspect the dam.

Pflueger's attorney, Bill McCorriston, said his client is suffering serious health problems. Pflueger had heart surgery in August to replace a cardiac valve and then suffered an infection, McCorriston said.

A jury trial is expected to begin sometime next year.