Mine manager charged with conspiracy Miner Terry Bailey sets up miners gear and a message during a candle light vigil for the 29 coal miners who were killed in the Upper Big Branch Mine explosion in Whitesville, West Virginia, on April 7, 2010. CHARLESTON, W.Va., Feb. 22 (UPI) -- A West Virginia mine superintendent was charged Wednesday with conspiring to violate safety laws, a court filing states. Gary May, one of nine managers of the Upper Big Branch Mine, allegedly plotted to put coal production ahead of workers' safety and covered up numerous safety violations in the two years leading up to the April 25, 2010 mine explosion that killed 29 miners, U.S. Attorney Beth Goodwin said in Charleston. "Today's charge is a significant step in the investigation of the events at the Upper Big Branch mine," she said Wednesday in a prepared statement. May is accused of participating in providing advance warning of government inspections, concealing violations and ordering an unnamed person to falsify mine examination records, the court filing indicated. The charges against May are included in legal filing known as an "information" rather than an in an indictment, an indication the accused is cooperating with prosecutors in the investigation, the Charleston (W. Va.) Gazette reported.