Michael Hissam, a Charleston attorney who closely followed the trial, said he thought Mr. Blankenship has little chance of winning an appeal based on legal theories and courtroom management issues defense lawyers have raised. The judge denied Blankenship’s request to remain free pending an appeal; unless an appeals court intervenes, he will begin his term within months. “It’s a lot of emotion and that’s understandable”, Blankenship said to reporters.
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“We buried our kid because of you”, Robert Atkins, father of a victim, said outside the courthouse alongside other family members of the deceased miners. “I hold a picture, I hold a tombstone, you hold nothing”.
Don Blankenship, the 66-year-old ex-CEO, was handed down a $250,000 fine by US District Judge Irene C Berger in West Virginia.
He called the coal miners who died “great guys, great coal miners”.
About a half-dozen law enforcement officers swarmed around Blankenship and ushered him into a van that drove him away.
“This sentence is a victory for workers and workplace safety”, Casto said in a statement. The disaster was then compounded by the failure of water sprayers that were broken and clogged.
West Virginia Public Broadcasting reports that Blankenship, speaking to the court during sentencing, professed innocence on the conspiracy charge and “attempted to apologize to family members of those who lost their lives at Upper Big Branch”.
What actually caused the disaster, as revealed by four investigations, was poor ventilation which allowed built-up coal dust and methane gas to be ignited by worn cutting equipment which caused a spark.
Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito and the United Mine Workers of America spoke favorably about the decision. The massive explosion led to an extensive investigation into Massey Energy.
The government had also charged Blankenship with lying to regulators and investors, but he was acquitted by the jury on those counts. If convicted of those charges, he could have faced more than five years in a federal prison.
The judge described Blankenship’s rise from a meager, single-mother Appalachian household to one of the wealthiest, most influential figures in the region and in the coal industry. She told Blankenship that “we should be able to tout you as a West Virginia success story….”
At trial, prosecutors presented evidence showing that in 2009 alone Blankenship made more than $18 million. They said Massey’s safety programs were just a facade never backed by more money to hire additional miners or take more time on safety tasks.
“I am gratified that Don Blankenship was found guilty of violating mine safety laws and that he received the maximum sentence available for that crime”.
Don Blankenship’s attorneys vowed to fight the conviction, saying Blankenship was badly portrayed by persecutors.
“Well, when all else fails, attack the prosecutor”, Goodwin said after the sentencing.
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It had racked up an extensive list of violations before the explosion, and a 2011 report by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration found that Massey had a history of “systematic, intentional and aggressive efforts” to evade safety regulations.
