Trial Set For Former Massey Official

{Beckley, West Virginia}…David C. Hughart, the former president of Massey Energy's White Buck Coal Co., is set to appear January 16th before U.S. District Judge Irene Berger in Beckley. Prosecutors say Hughart worked with unnamed co-conspirators to ensure miners at White Buck and other, unidentified Massey-owned operations, got advance warning about surprise federal inspections many times between 2000 and March 2010, giving workers time to conceal life-threatening violations that could have led to citations and shutdowns. Hughart is charged with felony conspiracy to defraud the government by impeding the Mine Safety and Health Administration and misdemeanor conspiracy to violate mandatory health and safety standards. He faces up to six years in prison.