Former Big Branch Mine Worker Sentenced

{West Virginia}...A former Performance Coal Co. assistant mine foreman accused of using a fake certification number and lying to federal investigators has been sentenced. Thursday, a federal judge sentenced Thomas Harrah, 45, of Comfort, in Boone County, to 10 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Harrah worked at the Upper Big Branch Mine in Raleigh County form January 2008 to August 2009 as a foreman, but he falsified his qualifications and performed safety checks as part of the job. Harrah was not working at UBB at the time of the April 2010 explosion. Authorities discovered what Harrah had done while investigating the tragedy that killed 29 miners. He faced a second criminal count after lying to a federal investigator.