Former Massey CEO Don Blankenship Sentenced to One Year in Prison For Conspiracy to Evade Mining Safety Rules

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Disgraced coal baron Don Blankenship received the maximum possible sentence today for his misdemeanor conspiracy conviction, in a criminal case spurred by the Upper Big Branch disaster that killed 29 coal miners in West Virginia in 2009.

Mr. Blankenship was acquitted in December of three felony charges over his direct personal responsibility for those deaths. But he was convicted on conspiracy to violate federal mining safety standards. Today, a federal judge handed down a sentence of one year in prison, plus a year of probation and a fine of $250,000 for Mr. Blankenship’s crimes.

Had he been convicted of all charges, Mr. Blankenship would have faced a maximum of over thirty years.

For over a quarter century, Mr. Blankenship ruled with an iron fist as the notoriously aggressive former head of Massey Energy, one of the nation’s largest coal miningย companies.

โ€œDon Blankenship killed those 29 men with greed as surely as if he had fired a gun at them,โ€ said environmental attorney Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. โ€œHe is a sinister creature of unrestrained capitalism.โ€

Mr. Blankenship was appointed CEO of Massey after successfully waging a campaign to beat back a major strike in 1984-85 โ€” and proceeded to deliberately circumvent the most basic of federal mining safety rules, prosecutors argued. His hands-on approach meant that he was personally involved in helping mine managers dodge federal safety inspectors, federal prosecutors argued when Mr. Blankenship was indicted.

Mr. Blankenship had emerged truimphant from the courtroom following his acquittal on the felony charges, The New York Timesย reportedย in December, dropping a wink at reporters outside the courthouse. His legal team had asked the court for clemency, telling U.S. District Judge Irene Berger, the daughter of a coal miner, that probation would suffice to deter other energy companies from similar conduct.

In court today, Mr. Blankenship continued to rebuff accountability. โ€œI am not guilty of a crime,โ€ heย toldย the judge at one point.

Following the sentencing, the scene outside the courtroom was emotional, as those who lost family grappled with a mix of vindication from the fact that Blankenship would serve time in jail and frustration at the former executive’s refusal to take personal responsibility for the catastrophe.

โ€œFor six years, he never apologized,โ€ a tearful Tommy Davis, whose brother Charles died at Upper Big Branch, and who was himself a former miner,โ€ย told Bloomberg. โ€œHeโ€™s got family to hug him. Iโ€™ve got tombstones.โ€

Mr. Blankenship had briefly tried to re-insert himself into the debate over energy policy after his indictment, remaining among the ranks of climate-deniers. โ€œRecord low temperatures are freezing the Global Warming movement,โ€ one of his most recent tweets, from Nov. 2014, reads. โ€œHopeย @BarackObamaย notices that Climate Science is notย settled.โ€



But his political influence was already waning amid a judicial corruption scandal and the waning economic might of a struggling coal mining industry. โ€œMost of the candidates don’t want contributions from me because it gets too much negative publicity,โ€ heย toldย the Wall Street Journal two years earlier.



The criminal case against Mr. Blankenship was tried in federal court โ€” meaning that his criminal appeals will be heard by federal justices, rather than reaching the state’s higher courts, which have been rocked by judicial corruption scandals related to Mr. Blankenship’s other business activities (corruption so blatant that it prompted a rebuke from the United States Supreme Court, which normally gives state courts wide latitude to police themselves).



As DeSmog previously reported:

โ€œWe decided the now $75 million Massey Energy case in less than 60 seconds. (HONEST!)โ€ an infuriated Justice Starcher wrote in his diary the night the case was decided, [Laurence] Leamer reveals [in The Price of Justice, an epic narrative of Blankenship’s legal battles published in 2013]. Calling the decision obviously decided in advance, Starcher continued โ€œBenjamin and Maynard are buddies with Don Blankenship and Robin kisses their butts to keep them โ€˜with her husbandโ€™ on his cases. The โ€˜good ole boyโ€™ system rules the day.โ€

Caperton [v. A.T. Massey Coal Co., Inc.] was appealed up to the United States Supreme Court, with Capertonโ€™s lawyersย arguingย that โ€œsome in West Virginia wondered aloud whether Massey had ‘b[ought] itself aย judge.’โ€

The prosecution of an energy CEO for misconduct on his watch is extraordinarily rare, reflecting dogged efforts by prosecutors. As DeSmog reported when Mr. Blankenship was first indicted, prosecutors pursued the case for years to reach Mr. Blankenship himself.



โ€œFor several years now, [R. Booth] Goodwin has systematicallyย worked his wayย up Masseyโ€™s hierarchy, convicting not only low-level supervisors, but also executives higher and higher within the corporate hierarchy. Goodwin has based his prosecutions on conspiracy charges rather than on violations of specific health and safety regulations, which means he can reach further up into the corporateย structure,โ€ DeSmog reported. โ€œSo far, Mr. Goodwin has convicted four people within the company’s leadership including the Upper Big Branch mine superintendent who admitted he disabled a methane monitor and falsified mine records. And while lower-ranking supervisors received sentences measured in months, Blankenship’s closest subordinate wasย sentencedย to three and a half years for his role in theย tragedy.โ€



The sentence today drew a mixed reaction from Mr. Goodwin, who is now running for governor of West Virginia.



โ€œWhile his crimes against the citizens of West Virginia deserve a more severe punishment, I am pleased that the judge sentenced Don Blankenship to the maximum one year in prison,โ€ Mr. Goodwin, the former U.S. Attorney, said in aย statement.ย โ€œThe investigation most certainly made mines and workplaces safer.ย This maximum sentence sends a clear,ย powerful message that a corrupt corporate executive cannot gamble with workersโ€™ lives and get away with it.โ€



For other observers, the outcome of the criminal case reflected only the smallest modicum of justice.



โ€œI think that the fact he could only be convicted on misdemeanor charges is an indicator that the coal industry still holds plenty of sway,โ€ Mike Plante, a Democratic political strategist told DeSmog. โ€œIf Mr. Blankenship had done with a gun what he did with his contempt for safety regulations heโ€™d be facing the electric chair or life in prison.โ€

ย 

EMOTIONAL REACTION: Tommy Davis lost three loved ones in the UBB mine disaster and was very emotional outside the federal courthouse in Charleston after Don Blankenship was sentenced to one year in prison Wednesday.See more here โ€“> http://bit.ly/1REhSMs

Posted by WCHS & WVAH TV on Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Mary Anne Hitt, Director of Sierra Clubโ€™s Beyond Coal Campaign, released the following statement:

โ€œSome measure of justice has finally caught up with Don Blankenship, and his sentencing today will add to the growing chorus of coal communities demanding that industry executives must be held accountable when their decisions destroy peopleโ€™s lives โ€“ whether it be from safety violations or continuing to destroy their land, air, water, and health.
ย 
โ€œTodayโ€™s sentence comes on the day after the six year anniversary of the Upper Big Branch mine disaster, and we hope it gives some solace to the families of the 29 miners who lost their lives in 2010. Our thoughts are with themย today.โ€

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Sharon Kelly is an attorney and investigative reporter based in Pennsylvania. She was previously a senior correspondent at The Capitol Forum and, prior to that, she reported for The New York Times, The Guardian, The Nation, Earth Island Journal, and a variety of other print and online publications.

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