MORGANTOWN (AP) — A judge has denied a motion to
delay, so the January sentencing of a former superintendent at West
Virginia's Upper Big Branch mine will go on as planned.
U.S.
District Judge Irene Berger denied prosecutors' request for a
postponement, saying they'd failed to "state good cause." In light of
the time that's passed since Gary May pleaded guilty to a conspiracy
charge in March, Berger said she was denying the motion.
May's
sentencing is set for Jan. 17 in Beckley. He's cooperating with federal
authorities in the ongoing criminal investigation of the 2010 explosion
at the former Massey Energy mine where 29 men died. U.S. Attorney Booth
Goodwin had argued in his motion that he needed more time to develop
evidence from May's cooperation.
"We will certainly be ready to
proceed," Goodwin said Thursday. "However, the denial of the continuance
is regrettable because, as we stated in our motion, there is a risk to
the investigation from the sentencing proceeding itself.
"'We will certainly do our very best to minimize that risk as the matter proceeds as ordered," he said.
The
explosion at Montcoal was the worst U.S. coal mining disaster in four
decades. The mine has since been sealed, and Massey was sold to
Virginia-based Alpha Natural Resources.
Last week, a federal
appeals court upheld the conviction of a former UBB security chief who
lied to investigators after the blast and ordered a subordinate to
destroy documents.
Hughie Elbert Stover claimed there was no
evidence he knowingly lied when he told investigators that miners were
not alerted whenever inspectors arrived, but a panel of the 4th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., disagreed.
Stover, 61, had been free while his appeal was heard but is now in the Federal Correctional Institution at Ashland, Ky.
Meanwhile, a former president at another Massey coal company is also cooperating with prosecutors in the UBB investigation.
Former
White Buck Coal Co. President David C. Hughart is set to enter a plea
to two federal conspiracy charges on Jan. 16, the day before May's
sentencing.
Hughart is accused of working with unnamed
co-conspirators to ensure miners at White Buck and other, unidentified
Massey-owned operations, got advance warning about surprise federal
inspections many times between 2000 and March 2010.
They say that gave workers time to conceal life-threatening violations that could have led to citations and shutdowns.
Hughart's
cooperation is a sign that authorities may be gathering evidence to
target officials further up the Massey hierarchy. Some victims' families
hold former CEO Don Blankenship personally responsible, though
prosecutors have declined to say who else could face charges in the
wide-ranging and continuing probe.
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