After several days of deliberation the jury found Blankenship not guilty of the two crimes that carried the heaviest sentence. Blankenship had been accused of ignoring safety regulations which led to the deaths of 29 miners. But the jury found him not guilty of falsifying coal dust samples and lying to stock holders, which would have carried the heaviest jail sentence. Blankenship was found guilty of conspiring to violate miner safety regulations, which has a maximum jail sentence of 1 year.