Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship was convicted Thursday of a misdemeanour count connected to a deadly coal mine explosion that killed 29 people in West Virginia.
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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. But the former executive was acquitted on charges of securities fraud and making false statements to regulators, a federal judge announced Thursday. “Although the jury was not presented with the question whether Blankenship was directly responsible for the explosion, it did decide that he played Russian roulette with his miners’ lives”.
The Massey mine explosion was the worst mining disaster in USA history.
The jury deliberated for parts of 10 days.
Blankenship was convicted of conspiring to willfully violate mine safety standards.
In seven weeks of testimony, U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin’s office called 27 witnesses.
In a press release, United Mine Workers of America International President Cecil E. Roberts said Blankenship’s conviction could not bring back the Massey workers who were killed.
Blankenship, who remains free on bond pending sentencing, plans to appeal, defense attorney Bill Taylor said.
The verdict closes another chapter in a five-year federal investigation set in motion when a blast shook the Upper Big Branch mine on April 5, 2010. After first stating on November 19 that it could not agree on a verdict, the jury was urged by Judge Irene Berger to return to its deliberations, but did not encourage the jury to return with a verdict, according to a report at The New York Times.
Blankenship was tried on charges of conspiring to break safety laws and defrauding mine regulators at West Virginia’s Upper Big Branch Mine, and lying to financial regulators and investors about safety. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, said the former executive had “blood on his hands”. The misdemeanour charge carries up to one year in prison.
Blankenship’s multimillion-dollar defense argued he could never draw a fair jury without going to West Virginia’s Washington, D.C., suburbs or leaving the state.
Asked for a comment after the trial, Blankenship just winked.
Perhaps most importantly, they heard dueling interpretations of an array of memos and programs about safety at Massey, a company that had thousands of safety citations.
Labor groups heralded the conviction as a strong message for corporate CEOs.
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Taylor went on to call Blankenship “a tireless advocate for mine safety”, adding that his “outspoken criticism of powerful bureaucrats has earned this indictment”.
