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Mine owner, foreman, sentenced in miner's death
by Peter E. Bortner
Pottsville Republican & Herald
November 5, 2009
The father and son who owned and operated the coal mine where a Donaldson man died in October 2006 will spend time under house arrest and in prison, respectively, after being sentenced Wednesday in Schuylkill County Court.
However, the sentences imposed on David P. Zimmerman, 53, and Steven D. Zimmerman, 34, both of Pine Grove, while they broke new legal ground in Pennsylvania, brought no real relief to a somber Dorothy Reightler, the widow of Dale Reightler, 43.
"I go home every night and my husband's not there," she told Judge Jacqueline L. Russell. "Their punishment is nothing compared to what we've been through."
Russell sentenced David Zimmerman to spend six months on house arrest and 17 months on probation, and Steven Zimmerman to spend three to 23 months in prison, with eligibility for work release and continuation of drug treatment. She also ordered each man to pay costs, a $1,000 fine and $50 to the Criminal Justice Enhancement Account, and perform 20 hours of community service.
David Zimmerman and Steven Zimmerman each pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter and guilty to recklessly endangering another person and three violations of the Anthracite Coal Mining Act. They, their lawyers and prosecutors agreed to the sentences before the hearing.
By pleading no contest to the involuntary manslaughter charge, the Zimmermans did not admit committing that crime, but offered no defense to it, agreed prosecutors had enough evidence to prove them guilty of it and agreed to be sentenced as if they had pleaded or been found guilty.
Wednesday's hearing represented the first time sentences had been imposed in a Pennsylvania case for manslaughter charges stemming from a fatal mine accident, Chief Deputy Attorney General Glenn A. Parno said.
"We're pleased that these individuals were held accountable for Dale's death," Parno said after the 30-minute hearing. "It was a long road, and we're pleased that it has finally come to a conclusion."
Neither of the Zimmermans apologized or said anything else during the hearing or while leaving the courtroom.
"I was somewhat surprised" they did not apologize, Parno said.
However, Assistant Public Defender Lora J. McDonald, Steven Zimmerman's lawyer, said her client is remorseful.
"He has asked me to express ... how sorry he is," McDonald told Russell.
That did not seem to matter to the Reightler family.
"No matter what happens ... it doesn't change anything," Dorothy Reightler said. "He doesn't come back."
David Zimmerman was the owner of, and Steven Zimmerman a foreman at, the R&D Coal Co. Buck Mountain Mine, Tremont Township, where an explosion on Oct. 23, 2006, killed Dale Reightler.
Methane gas ignited in the mine, which was located off Molleystown Road about a mile from Joliett, thereby causing the explosion, prosecutors said.
In April 2008, a state grand jury indicted the Zimmermans, and a third man, Jeffrey T. Klinger, 43, of Tremont, on charges stemming from Reightler's death.
On Sept. 16, Klinger pleaded guilty to blasting coal or rock without first obtaining a certificate to mine, as well as storing explosives or detonators in the direct line of blasting. Russell sentenced him to 60 days probation.
Parno said the mine has been closed and sealed.
Dorothy Reightler filed a lawsuit on Oct. 21, 2008, in the county court against the Zimmermans and numerous other defendants. That lawsuit is still active.
McDonald declined to comment after the hearing, and Jeffrey M. Markosky, Mahanoy City, David Zimmerman's lawyer, also left without saying anything.
Parno said that while the sentence represents justice to some extent, it does not do so completely.
"I think Dorothy said it all," Parno said. "No matter how this was resolved, it's not going to bring back Dale."Defendant: David P. Zimmerman
Age: 53
Hometown: Pine Grove
Plea: No contest to involuntary manslaughter and guilty to recklessly endangering another person and three violations of the Anthracite Coal Mining Act
Sentence: Six months on house arrest and 17 months on probation
Defendant: Steven D. Zimmerman
Age: 34
Hometown: Pine Grove
Plea: No contest to involuntary manslaughter and guilty to recklessly endangering another person and three violations of the Anthracite Coal Mining Act
Sentence: Three to 23 months in prison
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