Looks like a little bit of justice is coming for the families of the 29 miners killed in a West Virginia mine blast in 2010:

The former superintendent of a southern West Virginia mine where an explosion killed 29 workers pleaded guilty Thursday to a federal fraud charge.

Gary May of Bloomingrose, the highest-ranking Massey Energy official charged in connection with the blast, faces up to five years in prison when sentenced Aug. 9.

May pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Irene Berger in Beckley to conspiracy to defraud the federal government. The charge stems from his actions at the Upper Big Branch mine.

Prosecutors said May manipulated the mine ventilation system during inspections to fool safety officials and disabled a methane monitor on a cutting machine a few months before the explosion on April 5, 2010. It wasn’t clear from court papers whether the device was ever fixed.

You may recall that the CEO of Massey Energy, Don Blankenship, is a big Republican backer who opposes any government regulation, so it should come as no shock that one of his people would engage in such an activity. This should really serve as a reminder that government regulations, while a pain at times, do save lives. If they were adhered to in this case then these 29 people would still be alive. Instead Blankenship’s company decided to try and run under the very mantra that the GOP constantly pushes – letting business regulate themselves.