(Bloomberg) -- Former coal baron Donald Blankenship wassentenced to a year in prison for evading mine-safety rules in oneof the final chapters of a fatal mine explosion that was the worstU.S. coal industry accident in almost 40 years.

U.S. District Judge Irene Berger in Charleston, West Virginia,also fined the ex-Massey Energy chief executive officer $250,000and denied his request to remain free during appeal. Berger orderedBlankenship to report to prison as soon as the Federal Bureau ofPrisons orders him to.

Families of some of the 29 minerskilled in the 2010 Upper Big Branch mine blast watched from thecourtroom gallery on Wednesday as prosecutors urged the judge tosend a message to the coal industry by jailing Blankenship.

Blankenship “clearly occupied a position of private trust andabused that trust,” Berger said.

Scheme to circumvent safety standards

Jurors concluded in December that Blankenship set up a scheme tocircumvent safety standards and tip off workers to surpriseinspections to speed up coal production at the Massey mine. Thepanel cleared the former CEO of felony charges involving securitiesfraud and making false statements, which would have carried longerprison terms.

Blankenship’s lawyers said in court filings that prosecutorsunfairly sought to portray the former West Virginia power broker asa monster who callously sent miners to their deaths to add to hispersonal fortune. They said he deserved no more than probation anda fine.

Related: Mining disaster raises safetyconcerns

Blankenship’s conviction capped a five-year effort byprosecutors to hold the former CEO and his underlings accountablefor safety violations that led to the explosion at the mine, about30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Charleston.

The case is U.S. v. Blankenship, 14-cr-00244, U.S.District Court, Southern District of West Virginia(Charleston).

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