A federal judge in Eastern Kentucky has escalated the penalties he imposed on a coal company owned by U.S. Sen. Jim Justice of West Virginia.
Jay Justice, the son of Jim Justice, and associate Stephen Ball, who represent Kentucky Fuel Corp., have been ordered to pay more than $18 million in a case that’s stretched more than a decade.
In the latest turn, last week Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove ordered Justice and Ball to pay all attorneys fees, fines and interest, totaling more than $1 million.
In addition, he ordered them to pay $17 million in lost tonnage royalties, plus interest, going back to 2012.
“At any rate, defendants have not made a good faith effort to comply with post-judgment discovery, now or ever, and indicate no intention to do so in the future,” Van Tatenhove said.
In the 2012 lawsuit, New London Tobacco Market and Fivemile Energy accused Kentucky Fuel of failing to pay mine royalties and retainer fees.
In a statement, Steve Ruby, an attorney for the Justices, called Van Tatenhove's order "unprecedented, legally flawed and deeply concerning for any family business or company."
"We have already prevailed once on appeal at an earlier stage of this case, and we are confident that we will prevail on appeal again," Ruby wrote. "It is important to note that this matter involves operations that have not been active for several years.”
Earlier this year, Van Tatenhove was appointed dean of the College of Law at the University of Kentucky. Some law school faculty and Gov. Andy Beshear objected to his selection.
Jim Justice served two terms as West Virginia governor before he was elected to the Senate in 2024. He became governor in 2016 as a Democrat, but a year later switched parties with the support of President Donald Trump.
Justice-owned companies are involved in numerous federal lawsuits in multiple states over hundreds of millions of dollars in fines and fees he owes various creditors and state and federal agencies.
In the Kentucky Fuel case, Jay Justice and Ball paid about $30,000 toward the penalties they owed at the time, then claimed they were in compliance and asked Van Tatenhove to vacate the sanctions.
Instead, Van Tatenhove increased the nonpayment penalty from $250 to $1,000 a day.
“With millions at stake in potential contempt sanctions, both real and threatened,” Van Tatenhove wrote July 9, “the defendant entities along with Justice and Ball took yet another attempt to hide behind a house of cards.”
The $250 penalty applies from July 2024 to February 2025. The $1,000 daily penalty applies from February 2025 through the date of last week’s order.
According to a report last month by the nonprofit news site ProPublica, the Trump Justice Department dropped an investigation into Jim Justice’s coal companies.
As for the Van Tatenhove, Beshear previously said a law school dean should be approved by the UK Board of Trustees. The university has defended Van Tatenhove's appointment.
Van Tatenhove is a 1989 alumnus of the UK law school. He was appointed to the Eastern District of Kentucky by George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2005.
He served as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky from 2001 to 2006 and also worked as a legislative aide to U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky.
