Blankenship, who was known for his vocal and acerbic responses to the environmental activists and government regulators that targeted Massey over the years, had kept a fairly low profile since the sale of Massey – at least until this trial dragged him back into the spotlight.
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U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin was surrounded by his team that investigated the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster as he talked about the Blankenship verdict on Thursday. Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015. “We hope this serves as a strong deterrent to all the other fossil fuel executives who have similar moral and legal obligations to protect their workers and the communities in which they operate”, Hitt said.
Adding that the verdict comes too late for the 29 miners who lost their lives at Upper Big Branch in 2010, Martinez added, “This preventable tragedy can not be separated from the culture of indifference towards safety created by Blankenship and other senior Massey Energy executives”.
Though the federal jury in Charleston, West Virginia did find Blankenship guilty of conspiracy, it did not find him guilty of securities fraud or of making false statements after the disaster.
Rose said Blankenship’s safety directives stirred reasonable doubt about the second and third counts, which charged Blankenship with lying to financial regulators and investors about claims that Massey “strive(s)” to meet safety standards and does not “condone” violations.
The explosion at the mine killed 29 people.
“The evidence was insufficient to justify conviction on any count, and the conviction of the misdemeanor in the first count will be reversed”, Taylor said.
“Under Blankenship’s leadership, Massey repeatedly put profits before everything else, and Massey became one of the worst violators of our nation’s mine safety and environmental laws”.
“The citations you’re hearing about are not crimes”, William W. Taylor III, Blankenship’s top attorney, said in court November 17.
“We are disappointed, but not as disappointed as we could have been”. This is a case which should never have been brought.
“That’s been the hardest part for me”, said Petersen, whose brother, Dean Jones, died in the explosion.
When a reporter asked for comment, the bullish coal baron – who once threatened to shoot a TV news journalist in his company’s parking lot – only winked. Berger said she could not provide additional guidance. I just wanted to hear the word guilty. “To think that that man could still walk the streets and keep that smile on his face knowing what he did to my son”.
Blankenship had been a larger-than-life figure in West Virginia’s coal country, where one in 10 households has an income of less than $10,000 but the average annual salary of a miner was $84,959 in 2013, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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Labor groups heralded the conviction as a strong message for corporate CEOs.
