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Coal Mine Supervisors Facing Fraud Charges Plead Not Guilty
By: Associated Press
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OWENSBORO, Ky. (AP) – Eight former supervisors and safety officers at a Kentucky coal company have pleaded not guilty in federal court to charges they rigged dust monitoring in underground mines.
The eight officials at Armstrong Coal were arraigned this week in Owensboro and Bowling Green. An indictment alleges company officials ordered workers to remove dust sampling equipment and place it in clean air portions of the mine to get desirable readings.
The indictment says the alleged offenses happened at Armstrong’s Parkway and Kronos mines between 2013 and 2015.
Charley Barber, the former superintendent of Parkway mine in Muhlenberg County, had a separate arraignment Thursday in Bowling Green. The other defendants appeared before a judge earlier in the week.
A judge set a trial date for Oct. 3.