Ex-Mine Purchasing Agent Gets Probation in Kickback Scheme

A former coal employee in Logan County has been sentenced to five years’ probation for his role in a kickback scheme.

Thirty-five-year-old Chadwick Lusk of Davin was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Charleston for his guilty plea to a charge of honest services mail fraud. Lusk also was ordered to pay $230,000 restitution to Arch Coal.

Lusk admitted that when he worked as a purchasing agent at the Mountain Laurel Mining Complex, he defrauded Arch Coal subsidiary Mingo Logan Coal through cash kickbacks.

Federal prosecutors say Logan County businessman Gary Roeher paid Lusk a portion of the profits for crib blocks that the coal company bought from Roeher’s supply firm. Crib blocks provide roof support at underground mines.