Sen. Joe Manchin wants the lawyer behind the prosecution of former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship to be named the top federal prosecutor in Southern West Virginia.
Manchin, D-W.Va., has recommended that President Barack Obama nominate Steven R. Ruby to become U.S. Attorney for West Virginia's Southern District, a spokesman for Manchin said Tuesday in an email.
Ruby would replace Booth Goodwin, who resigned as U.S. attorney last month to run for governor.
It's ultimately the president's decision on who he nominates to replace Goodwin. The U.S. Senate then must confirm the nominee.
A spokeswoman for Sen. Shelley Moore Capito. R-W.Va., said in an email Tuesday that Capito "would be supportive" of Ruby's appointment "pending appropriate vetting."
Ruby, 37, has served as an assistant U.S. attorney since 2009 and also worked as counsel to Goodwin. He said Tuesday he wouldn't comment "on any possible nomination at this point."
As part of Goodwin's office, Ruby led the prosecution that resulted in Blankenship's misdemeanor conviction of conspiring to violate mine safety and health standards at Massey's Upper Big Branch Mine, where 29 miners died in an April 2010 explosion.
The federal jury in December found Blankenship not guilty of two other charges, securities fraud and making false statements, after a landmark trial that lasted two months.
He also led the prosecutions of a handful of other Massey officials, who pleaded guilty to various charges after the UBB disaster.
Ruby successfully prosecuted the cases of several Mingo County officials, including the county's circuit judge, prosecuting attorney, a magistrate and a county commissioner. He also prosecuted former Lincoln County Sheriff Jerry Bowman, along with former Lincoln County Clerk Donald Whitten and County Commissioner Thomas Ramey on charges in connection to a vote fraud scheme.
Ruby, who is a Lincoln County native, attended Duke University, and then went to law school at Washington and Lee University.
It's not clear if the Senate, which is controlled by Republicans, would take up Ruby's nomination before Obama leaves office. In a similar situation in 2007, President George W. Bush nominated William Powell, a lawyer with the Jackson Kelly firm, for a federal judgeship in the Eastern Panhandle. The Senate, controlled by Democrats at the time, did not act on the Powell nomination before Obama replaced Bush more than 18 months later.
When Goodwin stepped down, his first assistant, Carol Casto, was automatically elevated to serve as acting U.S. attorney.
Casto will serve as acting U.S. attorney for 220 days, unless the president nominates and the Senate confirms a replacement before then.
After 220 days without a replacement being confirmed, Casto would become interim U.S. attorney, according to the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.
Casto has worked as an assistant prosecutor in the office for 26 years. She didn't sound optimistic during an interview with the Gazette-Mail last week that she would be recommended for the permanent position.
"I'm a career person and, because I'm a career person, I don't have a lot of political contacts," Casto said. She pointed to the Hatch Act, which prohibits certain federal employees from participating in political activity.
Nevertheless, Casto said, "I am honored to do this job for even one day. I have been tasked with doing it, and I will do it to the best of my ability for as long as it's mine to do."
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.