BILLINGS, Mont. - Today, February 5th, Federal District Court Judge Timothy Cavan levied sentencing for Signal Peak Energy after the Roundup-based underground coal mine pleaded guilty to criminal charges in October of last year. Signal Peak admitted to willfully violating health and safety standards, the details of which include the illegal dumping of toxic slurry waste and bribing one of their employees to refrain from reporting a workplace injury that resulted in the partial amputation of a finger.

A DOJ press release from last year noted that this prosecution was "part of a broad corruption...