A federal judge in West Virginia sentenced former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship to a year in prison Wednesday for conspiring to violate mine safety laws ahead of the worst U.S. mine disaster in decades.
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US District Judge Irene Berger gave Blankenship the maximum sentence for the misdemeanor, satisfying community members and prosecutors who wanted a message sent to other coal executives regarding the importance of mine safety.
The government, in a sentencing document to the court, described Blankenship’s indifference to safety violations as “monstrous” and said he “made a conscious, cold-blooded decision to gamble with the lives of the men and women who worked for him”.
Don Blankenship, who had been chief executive of Massey Energy, was found guilty by a jury in December on a charge of conspiracy to willfully violate mine health and safety standards, according to the Justice Department.
William Taylor, Mr. Blankenship’s attorney, said he would appeal the verdict to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Six years and one day ago, a methane-fueled explosion ripped through the Upper Big Branch Mine in the heart of West Virginia coal country.
“It is important to everyone that you know that I’m not guilty of a crime”, he said. The sentencing capped a wide-spanning investigation into Massey following the explosion.
Blankenship’s defense lawyers, who are planning an appeal, recommended that he be fined and placed on probation.
“In our state, we will not allow the prioritization of production and profits over the safety of our workers”, Manchin, who was governor at the time of the explosion, said in a prepared statement.
The West Virginia coal mine exploded in 2010, killing 29 men.
Though Blankenship received the harshest penalties possible for the conspiracy, U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, prosecutors and the family members said the punishment didn’t fit the crime. He arrived at court in Charleston, W.Va., on Wednesday.
Outside of the courtroom following sentencing, Blankenship spoke only briefly about the reactions of those who lost their loved ones.
The sentencing of a former coal chief executive is a rarity and comes at a time when the industry has floundered amid environmental concerns and cheap natural gas prices. Five months later Alpha Resources Inc. acquired the company for $7.1 billion.
In those calls and memos, Blankenship told Massey managers to keep quiet about safety issues and focus on what “pays the bills”, according to one memo.
It’s likely the Bureau of Prisons will assign him to a minimum-security facility because of his short stay, said Larry Levine, who served 10 years in federal prisons and now advises on how to survive time behind bars.
The judge already ruled that Blankenship won’t have to pay $28 million in restitution to Alpha, helping him avoid a serious blow to his personal fortune.
The death toll at Upper Big Branch, about 40 miles (65 km) south of Charleston, was the highest in a US mine accident since 91 miners were killed in a 1972 fire at an Idaho silver mine.
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Harrah also referenced a pre-trial ruling in June by Judge Berger that allowed Blankenship to leave the state to see his son compete in a dirt bike race.
