February 27, 2012
Prosecutors prepared to show Stover acted improperly as police officer
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Federal prosecutors say they are prepared to offer testimony at the sentencing of former Massey Energy security director Hughie Elbert Stover about unspecified "misconduct" by Stover while he was a police officer.

Prosecutors also say they have witnesses who can tell U.S. District Judge Irene Berger about instances of "racially motivated misconduct" and sexual harassment by Stover, according to a document filed in federal court in Beckley.

The court document -- a three-page witness list filed late Friday -- provides no details about the alleged misconduct by Stover.

On Wednesday, Berger is scheduled to sentence Stover, who was convicted in October by a federal jury who concluded he lied to investigators and tried to destroy evidence in the government's probe of the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster.

The charges against Stover focused on his role in a Massey practice of warning workers underground of impending safety inspections, a routine occurrence that federal Mine Safety and Health Administration investigators now say played a major role in the April 5, 2010, disaster that killed 29 miners.

On Monday, Berger issued a 19-page ruling that denied Stover's request for a new trial and his motion that the judge set aside the jury verdict and issue a judgment of acquittal.

By statute, Stover could face a maximum of 25 years in prison. Federal sentencing guidelines, which judges can ignore or follow, recommend a sentence of between 33 and 41 months.

U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin has urged Berger to give Stover the maximum allowable jail time, arguing the security director "played a singular and indispensable role" in helping Massey hide safety hazards at the mine and "stop MSHA inspectors form ever discovering how dangerous UBB truly was."

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