WASHINGTON — The former president of a Massey coal mine in West Virginia was charged with conspiracy to violate federal mining safety laws Wednesday, and federal authorities said he is expected to plead guilty in a widening criminal probe that began after a 2010 explosion that killed 29 miners.
David Hughart, former president of Massey’s Green Valley Resource Group, was charged in U.S. District Court in Beckley, W.Va., with a felony for allegedly tipping off mine officials in advance of federal safety inspections. He was also charged with a misdemeanor for allegedly conspiring with other “directors, officers and agents" of the company’s coal mining operations to ignore federal safety regulations in order to increase coal production.
