Federal documents: Gov. Jim Justice late on payments

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice has missed deadlines in recent months to pay the U.S. government the millions of dollars he owes in penalties for unsafe working conditions at his coal mines, the Associated Press reports.

The Republican governor was ordered to pay $5.1 million by a federal judge in April 2020. That was after the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration brought a lawsuit against 23 of his companies, saying he failed to pay fees associated with hundreds of mine safety penalties.

According to federal court documents, since at least December, Justice has been late on payments.