Coal King Don Blankenship Makes Last-Minute Bid to Put Off Prison

Attorneys for Don Blankenship mounted a last-minute effort to keep the disgraced West Virginia coal boss out of prison, just two days before he was scheduled to report for his first day behind bars. Blankenship’s lawyers filed an emergency stay motion Tuesday in hopes of convincing the court to allow their client to remain a free man on $1 million bail while the court considers his appeal. Blankenship, the former CEO of Massey Energy, was convicted in December and later sentenced to one year in prison for conspiring to violate safety standards ahead of a mine explosion that killed 29 workers in 2010.

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