US Attorney Booth Goodwin said Thursday that US District Judge Irene Berger handed down the punishment to Thomas Harrah, 45, of Boone County.

Harrah, who had worked at the Raleigh County, West Virginia mine from January 2008 to August 2009, was charged in March for making a false statement on a US Mine Safety and Health Administration form as well as making false statements to special agents for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and MSHA.

The first count of Harrah’s conviction included his performance of foreman's duties, including signing pre-shift and on-shift examination reports, despite being unqualified to do so. While he did not have, and knew he did not have, the proper certification, he nonetheless signed his name to pre-shift and on-shift documentation and listed a certificate number that did not belong to him.

The second count of the information revealed that Harrah made false statements to a special agent with the FBI and a special investigator with MSHA in October 2010 when he was given an interview relating to his use of a false foreman's number.

In response, Harrah told the agents that an officer of Performance Coal, a Massey Energy subsidiary which owned UBB at that time, provided him with a phone number to call after he had taken and failed the foreman's examination.

Harrah also falsely claimed that the person he spoke with by phone provided him with the certification number, when in fact he had invented the number he used to sign the federal forms.

“This sentence sends an important and unmistakable message: if you break the law and threaten the lives of coal miners, you should expect prison time,” Goodwin said.

“Mine safety crimes are tremendously serious. Today’s result puts to rest any notion to the contrary.”

MSHA assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health Joseph Main responded to the sentencing by reiterating that mine examinations are a “critical element” to assuring safe workplaces and preventing illnesses, injuries and fatalities.

“Falsification of mine examinations risks miner safety and MSHA will continue to aggressively pursue such cases,” he said.

The investigation into Harrah was conducted by the FBI and MSHA and assistant US Attorney Blaire Malkin handled the prosecution.

The Upper Big Branch operation has been closed since the April 5, 2010 explosion that killed 29 workers. Several investigations into the incident, including MSHA’s review, are still ongoing.