Federal appeals court upholds conviction of Massey Energy ex-CEO News
Federal appeals court upholds conviction of Massey Energy ex-CEO

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit [official website] on Thursday upheld [opinion, PDF] the conviction of former Massey Energy [corporate website] co-CEO Donald Blankenship for conspiracy for his role in a 2010 West Virginia mine explosion that killed 29. Blankenship had argued that his conviction should be overturned on procedural errors, including incorrect jury instructions and that the prosecutors did not properly allege which mine safety regulations he allegedly conspired to violate. However, Judge James Wynn, Jr. [official profile] rejected these arguments. Blankenship had been sentenced to one year in a California prison with a $250,000 fine, and he will now finish his year of imprisonment.

Conspiracy charges have become commonplace in recent news cycles regarding. Earlier this month the US Department of Justice on Wednesday announced [JURIST report] that six high-ranking Volkswagen employees were indicted for their roles in a potential conspiracy to cheat emissions testing. In December Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette announced criminal charges [JURIST report] including conspiracy against four former state officials in connection with the Flint water crisis. Also last month attorneys general from 20 states filed an antitrust suit [JURIST report] alleging price fixing conspiracy against drug giant Mylan NV and five other drugmakers.