A Bridgeport man pleaded guilty Friday to dismembering a Stratford man with an ax, then stuffing his body into a metal barrel last summer.

The body of 34-year-old Charles Gerber was found in a barrel floating in the Pequonnock River in July 2007. According to police, Gerber?s head, hands and feet had been cut off. Felix Rivera, 23, pleaded guilty to the crime of illegally disposing of a body.

Rivera told police he and Gerber were celebrating their release from prison for previous crimes by doing drugs. Rivera said Gerber turned blue and stopped breathing so he chopped him up and put the parts in a barrel.

A state's attorney is reportedly recommending Rivera serve a three-and-a-half year prison term when he's sentenced in March.

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