Biography
Heightland was a union coal miner involved in a bitter labor dispute in eastern Kentucky that escalated beyond picket-line conflict. Federal prosecutors tied him and other striking miners to an armed ambush of coal trucks during the strike, an attack in which rifle fire struck the vehicles and a truck driver was killed.
He was convicted in federal court under a statute aimed at protecting vehicles used in interstate commerce, based on the conclusion that the ambush intentionally damaged the trucks and was carried out with reckless disregard for human safety. The case became emblematic of how labor conflict in the region intersected with aggressive criminal prosecution when violence erupted around strikebreaking operations.
Pretrial custody
Contemporary UPI reporting on August 8, 1987 identifies Heightland among the five defendants arrested the preceding Friday, August 7, and held without bond. This establishes an initial custody date before the previously recorded February 3, 1988 sentencing date. The later sentence and existing release endpoint are preserved.
Source: UPI, August 8, 1987.
Workers Vanguard reported a December 17, 1987 jury conviction for interstate-commerce interference, conspiracy and firearms violations.
