US Attorney to Leave Office

U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin says he will leave office at the end of the year and return to private law practice. Goodwin’s resignation comes less than a month after the federal trial of former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship. Blankenship was found guilty on Dec. 3 of conspiring to willfully violate mine safety rules at West Virginia’s Upper Big Branch mine, which exploded in 2010 and killed 29 men. Goodwin was appointed as U.S. Attorney by President Barack Obama in 2010. He had served in the federal prosecutor’s office since January 2001. Goodwin’s office also prosecuted former executives of Freedom Industries for the January 2014 chemical spill.