CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A federal appeals court this morning affirmed the criminal conviction of former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship.
In a 34-page opinion, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it found no reversible errors in trial rulings by U.S. District Judge Irene Berger.
Blankenship is in federal prison in California, serving a one-year sentence. He was convicted in December 2015 of conspiring to violate federal mine safety standards at Massey’s Upper Big Branch Mine, where 29 workers died in an April 2010 explosion.