Ex-CEO conviction historic, but short of prosecutors’ hopes

A measure of justice has been served through the conviction of Don Blankenship on federal charges of conspiring to violate mine safety standards.

Blankenship is the first mining executive in USA history to be charged in connection to the death of a worker.

Blankenship said he was singled out for his conservative Republican political activism, and according to his attorneys, he plans to appeal.

The government, Taylor said, had prosecuted a case that relied on misinformed assessments of documents, faulty testimony and a heavy dose of personal animus toward a man who was powerful but hardly revered.

Ellen Smith, owner and editor of Mine Safety and Health News, said executives who deal with MSHA and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration have been paying attention to the two-month-long trial. Investigators found that a coal dust explosion caused the collapse that trapped the miners. Responding to that notice earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Irene Berger issued an Allen charge to the jurors, urging them to consider both the majority and minority opinions – and to consider a partial verdict.

Blankenship was found guilty of conspiracy to violate mine safety laws, but cleared on two counts of making false statements about Massey safety procedures to the Securities and Exchange Commission and investors.

“Just a wink. A wink and a nod”, he said, citing a phrase the defense used to challenge the conspiracy notion.

The accident attracted national attention when teams combed the soot-blackened mine for days searching for survivors.

In April of 2014, Sen. “The blood of these 29 people is on your hands”. Blankenship retired from Massey later that year. His conviction is now being viewed as the linchpin of an intensive investigation into Blankenship’s company, Massey Energy.

The conviction ends a five-year effort by federal prosecutors to hold Blankenship accountable for safety violations that led to the explosion at the mine about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of the state capital of Charleston.

As a verdict came in for Don Blankenship’s role in the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster, the man who may have lost the most in the explosion was nowhere to be found.

The misdemeanor count could mean up to one year of jail time for the former coal executive.

Goodwin said the evidence “overwhelmingly showed an enterprise that embraced safety crimes as a business strategy. The fact we were able to obtain that kind of justice today is a great victory”, he said. Despite these problems, they said they were ordered to keep working. “This sends a message to all CEOs, owners and operators”. A Republican who has clashed with Democrats and regulators, he said he believed he was targeted for political reasons.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Ruby also addressed the jury about the mine’s conditions.