U.S. Attorney Seeks Maximum Sentence

{Charleston, West Virginia}...Defense lawyer Bill Wilmoth said in papers filed with U.S. District Judge Irene Berger that 60 year old Hughie Elbert Stover, the former Massey Energy security chief convicted of obstructing the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster investigation, should not have to go to jail. In October, a federal jury convicted Stover of making a false statement and obstructing justice. Jurors concluded that Stover lied to investigators and then tried to destroy evidence about Massey's practice of warning underground workers when federal inspectors arrived at Upper Big Branch mine. Stover faces a maximum of 25 years in prison when sentenced February 29th in federal court in Beckley. Federal sentencing guidelines, which judges can follow or ignore, recommend a sentence of between 33 and 41 months. Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin urged Berger to depart from the guidelines and send Stover to jail for the maximum 25 year sentence. Goodwin argued that Stover's actions played a major role in causing the April 5, 2010 explosion that killed 29 miners.