PIKEVILLE, Ky. (AP) - A former Democratic state lawmaker who owns coal mines and helped regulate the coal industry on the House Natural Resources Committee told a federal jury Thursday that it was “awkward” when a state mine inspector assigned to his mines asked him for money.
But W. Keith Hall said he gave Kelly Shortridge the money anyway because Shortridge was a friend and, as a powerful state lawmaker in impoverished eastern Kentucky, that’s what you did to help people.
Federal prosecutors said it was more than awkward for Hall to make loan payments for Shortridge and pay him $25,000 as part of an acquisition deal with Jim Justice, a billionaire whose coal companies have a history of safety violations, that netted Hall millions of dollars.
“Isn’t part of that deal that you would have an inspector that was on the take?” Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Roth asked Hall during his testimony Thursday.
Hall said he never asked Shortridge for favors, but that he hired him as a private consultant because of his connections in the coal industry. Shortridge was one of three consultants Hall hired to help him find a buyer for one of his coal mines in eastern Kentucky. One consultant was House Majority Floor Leader Rocky Adkins, who Hall said set up a dinner meeting with officials from Kentucky Fuels, one of Justice’s companies, that eventually led to the company purchasing the mine and, prosecutors say, earned Hall more than $5 million.
But Hall described Shortridge as a “good political friend,” a popular figure in this tight-knit community who once ran for school board and helped run a Little League program. He said their relationship soured when he refused to pay Shortridge for a deal that fell through, causing Shortridge to intimidate some of Hall’s business partners. Hall said Shortridge complained to state officials about him, calling him a “wacko” and an “out of control Lex Luthor,” a reference to the villain in the Superman comic book series.
But prosecutors pointed out that Hall requested Shortridge to be his mine inspector in 2006 and even recommended him for a promotion to state officials. They showed a photo of Hall and Shortridge with Democratic House Speaker Greg Stumbo at the Kentucky Capitol, which Hall had signed and referred to Shortridge as a future director of a state agency. Hall said the inscription was a joke and he bristled when Roth asked him if he has paid other mine inspectors.
“I’m insulted by your question,” he said. “I’ve never paid a mine inspector.”
His payments to Shortridge, Hall said, were to help him when he was close to losing his house and to help buy his son a car so he could attend Eastern Kentucky University. He said other payments were “legitimate business transactions” that were written from his company to a consulting company owned by Shortridge’s wife.
Thursday was the fourth day of Hall’s trial, which has featured testimony from state officials and Hall’s estranged wife. Hall’s defense attorneys, father and son Brent and Bryce Caldwell, have pointed out Shortridge did cite Hall’s coal mines for safety violations and his work was verified by his supervisors.
“If there was some corrupt intent, it didn’t work, because a citation was issued,” Brent Caldwell said.
They argued that Hall had no motivation to bribe Shortridge because Hall was not liable for state fines because a contract he signed with Kentucky Fuels shielded him from responsibility. Prosecutors argued that Hall’s protection from liability was not solidified until 2014, years after Hall had paid Shortridge.
The trial is scheduled to resume Friday.
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