A spokesman for US Attorney General for the Southern District of West Virginia Booth Goodwin told ILN that more criminal charges stemming from the Raleigh County blast that killed 29 are coming soon.
“The office…is advancing as quickly as possible,” said Melvin Smith, adding that Goodwin was anticipating an announcement “in the near future”
Neither Smith nor Goodwin have provided any specific timeline for that to occur or indicated what the charges could include.
To date, there have been two criminal prosecutions directly linked to the explosion, one for former mine superintendent Gary May and the other for former security chief Hughie Stover.
May, who pleaded guilty of felony conspiracy earlier this year, is awaiting a January sentencing date. He received at least two continuances to the date because of his cooperation with the AGO in its criminal investigation.
Stover, meanwhile, who sentenced in 2011 to three years in jail – one of the stiffest punishments ever for a mine safety case –is appealing his conviction for lying to special investigators as well as destroying key documents during the federal probe.
Additionally, Goodwin’s office has brought charges against former miner Thomas Harrah, who was handed a 10-month jail sentence for faking a foreman's license to perform safety examinations at the UBB mine between January 2008 and August 2009 and lying about his actions to investigators.
Alpha’s unprecedented agreement with the AGO came last December. Under the deal’s terms, Alpha paid $34.8 million to resolve outstanding citations, violations and orders stemming not only from the federal UBB investigation but also from other non-UBB related matters involving legacy Massey divisions incurred prior to the acquisition.
It also paid $46.5 million to the families of the dead UBB workers – with $16.5 million already paid out or being paid in settlements.
The third component was a $48 million trust to fund research and development projects for the improvement of miner health and safety, which resulted in the establishment of the foundation now known as the Alpha Foundation.
One of the largest chunks of the settlement, $80 million, was earmarked for investments over two years to add safety measures at legacy Massey mines and Alpha mines.
This includes ongoing safety skills and compliance training, the construction of a state-of-the-art safety training facility, and the development and placement of “next-generation” mine safety equipment.
