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Court Upholds Conviction In Mine Explosion

An appeals court has upheld the conviction of a former security chief convicted of lying to investigators after the 2010 explosion that killed 29 miners at West Virginia's Upper Big Branch mine. Hughie Elbert Stover claimed there was no evidence he knowingly lied when he told investigators that miners weren't alerted whenever inspectors arrived.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- An appeals court has upheld the conviction of a former security chief convicted of lying to investigators after the 2010 explosion that killed 29 miners at West Virginia's Upper Big Branch mine.

Hughie Elbert Stover claimed there was no evidence he knowingly lied when he told investigators that miners weren't alerted whenever inspectors arrived. He also was convicted of ordering a subordinate to destroy documents.

A panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday there was substantial evidence to support Stover's conviction.

A former mine superintendent also charged in the nation's worst mine disaster in four decades will be sentenced next year.

A former president of a different Massey Energy mine is cooperating in the UBB probe and will enter a plea to conspiracy charges in January.

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