Daniel Tucker, Conspiracy to Defraud, Virginia 2020

ABINGDON, Va. – In a shocking turn of events, Daniel Tucker, the owner of Grundy, Va.-based coal company D&H Mining, Inc., and one of its foremen, Gerald Ball, pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States by cheating on underground coal mine dust sampling procedures under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act.

According to court documents, Tucker and Ball conspired to defraud the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) by taking personal dust monitors off miners before the end of the shift and hanging them in clean air, programming the monitors to shut off before the end of a shift, and submitting false reports to MSHA.

The alleged cheating on dust sampling procedures was a blatant disregard for the safety of miners, who are exposed to hazardous conditions every day. ‘Coal mining, by its nature, is a hazardous occupation, and federal health and safety laws play a critical role in reducing the dangers miners face on a daily basis.’

Tucker and Ball’s actions were a clear violation of the law, and the consequences will be severe. Pursuant to the terms of his plea agreement, Tucker will pay $80,000 as a criminal fine within 60 days of his plea.

The district court will sentence D&H Mining, Tucker, and Ball on August 11, 2020. The investigation of the case was conducted by the Norton Office of the Mine Safety and Health Administration, and the case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia.

MSHA’s dust sampling regulations are designed to reduce the level of respirable coal dust in mines to reduce the risk of miners developing pneumoconiosis (‘black lung’) and silicosis, the most common coalmine dust-caused diseases.

United States Attorney Thomas T. Cullen stated, ‘We will continue to work closely with MSHA to ensure that mine owners and operators play by these important rules, and, when they don’t, hold them accountable under federal law.’

Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Mine Safety and Health Administration David G. Zatezalo added, ‘These prosecutions are a milestone in MSHA’s vigorous enforcement of the 2014 Respirable Coal Dust Rule. When mining companies ignore the dust sampling rules and try to cheat the system, they place miners at risk.’

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