Monday, March 12, 2012

Attorney Seeks Delay For Former UBB Official

  • {Beckley, West Virginia}...Monday, defense attorney Tim Carrico asked for a postponement of a hearing for Gary May, a former superintendent of the Upper Big Branch mine. May is scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge Irene Berger in Beckley on March 22nd to enter a plea after being accused, among other things, of disabling a methane gas monitor, falsifying safety records and using code words to tip off miners underground about surprise inspections. May has been charged with conspiracy to defraud the federal government and is apparently cooperating with prosecutors in a continuing criminal investigation of the 2010 explosion. Last week, U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin asked Berger to schedule a hearing for May.