CHARLESTON — A Kanawha Circuit judge has ordered Gov. Jim Justice’s family to start making payments on a settlement.
Kanawha Circuit Judge Joanna Tabit ordered Justice Low Seam Mining on Oct. 10 to pay back nearly $500,000 to Virginia Drilling Company LLC. Justice Low Seam Mining had 10 days to make the payment.
The lawsuit was first filed on Aug. 9, 2017, when Virginia Drilling claimed that Justice Low Seam Mining owed for goods and services from a contract.
Even though Justice Low Seam Mining and Virginia reached a settlement more than a year ago, the company did not make payments on the settlement, according to court documents.
Virginia filed a motion to enforce the settlement on May 25, after no payments had been made for 10 months. Another renewed motion to enforce the settlement was filed on Aug. 23.
Since Justice Low Seam Mining failed to make payments, Tabit ordered that they pay a little more than $478,000, which is the sum of the last several months’ payments. Justice Low Seam Mining is supposed to pay nearly $120,000 each month with interest until it pays back $1.3 million.
Virginia Drilling is represented by Josef A. Horter.
Justice Low Seam Mining is represented by John F. Hussell IV, John D. Wooton and Andrew L. Ellis.
Justice’s coal companies have been in the news over the last several years for failing to pay back amounts owed to various companies in West Virginia and other states.
Earlier this year, City National Bank claimed two of Justice’s companies defaulted on an agreement.
Last year, Justice’s companies were ordered to pay BMS CAT back for clean up and restoration to The Greenbrier after the 2016 floods.
Also last year, a lawsuit was filed against Justice alleging he transferred assets to avoid payment on a business deal.
In 2016, the Virginia Supreme Court ordered one of Justice’s companies to pay back more than $1 million to a coal operator.
Kanawha Circuit Court Case number: 17-C-1130
