Last week it was reported that federal prosecutors had filed criminal charges against a former senior supervisor at the Upper Big Branch mine where 29 coal miners died in an underground explosion in 2010. Previous convictions on these types of charges have drawn very light sentences, months rather than years, so people were wondering whether this time things would be different.
Apparently, a new wind is blowing across West Virginia....
From NPR (for no particular reason):
A federal judge in West Virginia has sentenced Hughie Stover to three years in prison. Stover is the former security chief of the Upper Big Branch mine, where 29 miners died in a massive explosion in 2010.
NPR article (and no, I am not a fan of NPR, this is just a reference)
The NPR article goes on to note that the federal prosecutor had asked for 25 years and says U.S. District Court Judge Irene Berger "rebuffed prosecutors", although the judge indicated in court that she felt a 25-year sentence on Stover, who is 60, would amount to a death sentence.
For a "reality-based" take on the sentence and the Prosecutor's statement please refer to this Coal Tattoo article, which explains just how unprecedented this sentence is. An excerpt:
Federal prosecutors pretty much let it all hang out on this one — They not only asked Judge Berger to “upwardly depart” from the federal sentencing guidance that recommended Stover get 31 to 44 months in prison, but they urged the judge to throw the book at Stover with the maximum sentence allowed by law.
Part of the hope here was that an especially stiff sentence for Stover would send a message to other folks out there who have information that would be helpful to prosecutors …
And in taking that route, Goodwin and his top UBB prosecutor, Steve Ruby, outlined their theory that Stover was partly to blame for the disaster, arguing that he lead a scheme to use advance notifications of government inspections to cover up the real conditions at Upper Big Branch and avoid potentially costly safety improvements.
Prosecutors explained in this sentencing memorandum:
A 20-month MSHA investigation concluded that the systematic practice of providing advance warning of inspections at UBB was part of the cause of that mine’s April 2010 explosion.
Defendant played a singular and indispensable role in these warnings, as the United States proved at trial. He required UBB security guards to act as lookouts for mine inspectors, making a radio announcement the moment an inspector arrived. UBB was a sprawling mine, so these early warnings routinely gave mine officials up to two hours to conceal illegal conditions. Defendant’s wrongdoing helped stop MSHA inspectors from ever discovering how dangerous UBB truly was.
Remember, these types of violations routinely receive a "tap on the wrist", usually fines or jail sentences of weeks or months in the worst cases. Apparently the judge in this case decided that this security person was not
directly involved in the deaths, but just tried to obstruct a federal investigation. The recommended sentence for this type of violation is apparently 31-44 months, so the sentence was within the guidelines.
I recommend those who are interested to read the complete Coal Tattoo article by Ken Ward, Jr. - this guy is very good.
Alright, so maybe it's not a gale, but even a breeze is better than nothing.