Ex-coal CEO convicted on misdemeanor conspiracy

When Blankenship’s conviction was announced, Jessica Martinez, acting executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, commented, “Don Blankenship repeatedly violated our nation’s mine safety laws, and his conviction today will send a message to other CEOs: It’s not acceptable to cut corners and put workers’ lives at risk”.

Blankenship faces up to one year in prison on the conspiracy charge to break mine safety regulations, a misdemeanor. Still, he is the most prominent executive ever to have been convicted of a charge relating to the death of workers, and the fourth top official found accountable in the UBB mining tragedy.

Don Blankenship, CEO of Massie Energy, talks with reporters near the Upper Big Branch Mine in Montcoal, West Virginia, April 6, 2010.

“This conspiracy was the primary cause of an enormous explosion that killed 29 men in the worst mine disaster in 40 years”, Steinzor said.

During the trial, which began October 1, prosecutors called Blankenship a bullish micromanager who knew about and meddled in the smallest details of Upper Big Branch.

Bill Taylor, a lawyer for Blankenship, said he was “disappointed in the decision”, but did not think his client would serve jail time.

West Virginia coal baron Don Blankenship has been found guilty of conspiring to violate mine safety standards. “The fact we were able to obtain that kind of justice today is a great victory”, he said. They have deliberated for all or part of nine days.

When a federal grand jury indicted him one year ago, the charges also included “lying to the Securities and Exchange Commission about the company’s safety practices and stock purchases”, as NPR’s Howard Berkes reported.

Prosecutors said Blankenship was a stubborn, meddling micro-manager whose safety programs were never backed by the funds needed to actually implement them.

Jurors heard descriptions of Blankenship’s fortune – he was paid almost $18 million in 2009, the last full year before the explosion at the West Virginia mine just about everyone called “UBB” – and they saw documents that portrayed him as a manager with intricate knowledge of the operations of his multibillion-dollar company.

Jurors sent U.S. District Judge Irene Berger a note Wednesday afternoon saying one juror was ill, and she dismissed them for the day a few hours early. The government insisted that Blankenship and Massey had embarked on little more than a safety charade.

Instead, prosecutors say Blankenship imposed a profits-trump-safety corporate mentality that could let a widespread disaster occur. The case concerned the Upper Big Branch mine. The jury acquitted Mr. Blankenship of all felony charges.