Don Blankenship Faces More Jail Time For Lying To SEC And Shareholders Than Endangering Miners


For those who missed it, last week former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship was indicted on federal charges that he orchestrated a massive conspiracy to flout federal mine safety and health standards at the Upper Big Branch mine, as well as to hide those violations. Although it isn’t directly alleged in the indictment, anyone who has followed this story knows that those violations led directly to the catastrophic underground explosion in April 2010 that left 29 miners dead. That made me wonder–why wasn’t Blankenship charged with 29 counts of manslaughter? Well, a longtime observer of the coal industry has not only shed some light on that subject, but has also revealed a potentially outrageous situation. Blankenship could potentially get more jail time for lying to the Securities and Exchange Commission and to Massey shareholders than for creating an atmosphere in which miners lived in active fear of dying.

Don Blankenship addressing a National Press Club luncheon in 2010 (courtesy Rainforest Action Network's Flickr)
Don Blankenship addressing a National Press Club luncheon in 2010 (courtesy Rainforest Action Network’s Flickr)

Ken Ward, Jr. of The Charleston Gazette has covered the coal industry for more than two decades. In his blog, Coal Tattoo, Ward reveals that the main reason the indictment doesn’t directly blame the explosion on Blankenship’s misdeeds. Apparently federal prosecutors don’t want to open the door for Blankenship to argue that the explosion was an “act of God” triggered by a sudden spike in natural gas. Blankenship first trotted out this theory at a July 2010 address to the National Press Club, and has been hammering away at it for over four years. Earlier this summer, he even put together a 51-minute film, “Upper Big Branch: Never Again,” centered around this argument.

This argument runs aground when you consider that rescuers had to pull back at least twice due to methane levels that were still off the scale even though there was no active coal production in the mine. I don’t know much about mining, but I know enough about methane from working in a wastewater plant for a time after college to know that just doesn’t happen naturally. Still, considering the stakes, I can understand why prosecutors aren’t willing to give Blankenship too much latitude to present a remotely plausible alternative theory on the cause of the explosion. After all, it only takes one juror to hang a jury.

While prosecutors think they may have avoided one potential travesty, another one may be beyond their control. As I mentioned, Blankenship potentially faces up to 31 years in prison if convicted on all charges. However, Ward points out that 25 of those years–more than three-fourths of the potential maximum sentence–are related to two statements Massey issued in the days following the explosion–one to shareholders and one to the general public. Both of them stated that Massey did not tolerate violations of safety regulations.? That statement is transparently false when put next to the numerous memos in which Blankenship told on-site executives to “run coal”–and everything else, including ventilation and other measures to keep miners safe, be damned. For that reason, Blankenship is charged with securities fraud, which carries a maximum of 20 years in prison. Since the shareholder statement was filed with the SEC, Blankenship is also charged with lying to the SEC, which carries a maximum of five years. By comparison, the charge at the heart of the government’s case–that Blankenship masterminded a conspiracy to violate federal mine safety regulations–carries a maximum of only one year in prison. The charge of defrauding the Mine Safety and Health Administration by covering up violations and providing advance notice of inspections carries a maximum of five years.


Maybe it’s just me, but if allowing a mine to become a death trap puts you at risk for less jail time than lying to shareholders and the SEC, it’s a sign that the regulatory and legal scheme is severely warped. What if this had been a private company rather than a public company? Unless I’m very wrong, Blankenship would have only been looking at a maximum of six years in prison. Given the extent of the violations, the apparent lengths Blankenship went to cover them up, and the potential for catastrophe, six years would barely qualify as a phrase, let alone a sentence.

To my mind, the prospect that Blankenship faces a pittance for offenses actually related to creating an unsafe situation at Upper Big Branch should be a wake-up call to Congress. It cannot be repeated enough–if not for lying to his shareholders and the SEC, Blankenship would only be facing six years in prison. That’s not just an insult to the families of the 29 mines who died, but to coal miners everywhere.

Let us know your thoughts at the Liberal America Facebook page. Sign up for our free daily newsletter to receive more great stories like this one.


Darrell Lucus.jpg Darrell Lucus, also known as Christian Dem in NC on Daily Kos, is a radical-lefty Jesus-lover who has been blogging for change for a decade. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook.

Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook. Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello.