The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #128595   Message #3313056
Posted By: Desert Dancer
24-Feb-12 - 10:51 PM
Thread Name: 29 dead in West Virginia mine explosion (Apr 2010)
Subject: RE: 29 dead in West Virginia mine explosion (Apr 2010)
The citations for violations are from the state, but the charges against Gary May are federal, so maybe something more than business as usual will ensue [insert appeal to luck or a higher power here]. From the NY Times article:
The way the charges were filed — directly to the court by prosecutors from the United States attorney's office, instead of by a grand jury indictment — indicates that Mr. May is cooperating with prosecutors, a strategy that observers say could eventually lead prosecutors to top executives, including Don L. Blankenship, the former head of Massey, who state investigations concluded had enforced a culture of cutting corners and ignoring risks for the sake of profit.

The charges, filed in federal court in West Virginia, include conspiracy to defraud the United States by impeding a federal agency, a felony that is punishable by up to five years in prison.

The charging document paints a picture of deception with Mr. May at its center, directing workers to falsify record books and speaking to them in code as a way of warning that inspectors were coming.

According to a person close to the investigation, those phrases included "bringing in a load of blocks," and "it's raining outside" or "there's a hailstorm outside." Another warning phrase was "I had a hamburger (or cheeseburger) for dinner last night," the person said.

The conspiracy charges against Mr. May were an unusual strategy, lawyers said. Few violations qualify as federal felonies under existing law, and law enforcement has been hampered by weak misdemeanor penalties. A conspiracy charge allows prosecutors to be more flexible in their strategy, and if it is successful, could give them a tool to reach senior mine officials who have traditionally been insulated from criminal charges because they are rarely involved in actual coal mining.


~ Becky in Long Beach