Bloomberg Law
Jan. 19, 2017, 4:45 PM UTC

Former Coal Baron Blankenship’s Conviction Upheld on Appeal

Bloomberg Media

By Jef Feeley, Bloomberg News

Former coal baron Donald Blankenship will stay in jail for now after an appeals court upheld his conviction for flouting mine-safety laws.

The self-described “political prisoner” didn’t identify any reversible errors in his 2016 trial on charges he ignored safety rules at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch mine, a federal appeals court said Thursday. The government began probing Massey’s operations after a 2010 explosion killed 29 workers at the site.

Blankenship’s conviction marked the first time a major energy company’s top executive was jailed over a workplace crime. He’s serving a year sentence at a ...

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