US Attorney Booth Goodwin confirmed that Craig Belcher, 37, of Bluefield, was sentenced Monday by senior US district judge David Faber in a Mercer County courtroom.

Belcher initially pleaded guilty in July to providing a false statement, representation and certification in a US Mine Safety and Health Administration document.

The worker’s indiscretions stem back to January 2009, when he was an underground mine foreman for Spartan Mining's Road Fork No. 51 mine in Wyoming County.

The following month, Belcher was hired to perform mine foreman duties at Frasure Creek's Mine No. 15 in Fayette County, and in May he began performing similar duties for Pay Car's Mine No. 58 in McDowell County.

In July 2010, he was mine foreman for Double Bonus's Mine No. 65, also in Wyoming County.

In all, between January 27, 2009 and July 13, 2010, Belcher admitted to signing pre-shift and on-shift reports indicating proper examinations had been performed; the miner was not certified as a foreman when he completed the mine reports.

Belcher also falsified information on pre-shift and on-shift reports by using foreman's numbers that did not belong to him, according to Goodwin.

No fines or restitution were indicated by the USAG office. He was facing up to five years in prison and a $US250,000 fine.

The investigation of Belcher was conducted by MSHA, and prosecution was handled by assistant US Attorney Blaire Malkin.