Ex-security chief sentenced to 3 years for impeding investigation of 2010 US mine blast

John Raby, The Associated Press

BECKLEY, W.Va. - A former security chief convicted of lying to investigators about the April 2010 explosion that killed 29 men at a southern West Virginia coal mine has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Hughie Elbert Stover was sentenced Wednesday. Stover was convicted of lying to investigators and ordering a subordinate to destroy thousands of security-related documents at the Upper Big Branch mine following the worst U.S. coal mine disaster in four decades.

U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin sought a 25-year sentence, hoping to send a resounding message about Stover's crimes. But federal sentencing guidelines called for a total sentence of about three years for both crimes.

Judges do not have to follow the guidelines.