By the late 1900s and early 2000s, West Virginians were losing faith in their leaders. The national president of the United Mine Workers of America, Tony Boyle, was serving a life sentence for murdering his opponent—and his family—over a union election. In 1968, former West Virginia Governor Wally Barron (pictured left) was charged with corruption. He was found not guilty but later admitted to bribing a juror $25,000 to fix the trial. Both he and the jury foreman went to prison for jury tampering.

Other state leaders were also convicted of crimes. In 1972, former Attorney General C. Donald Robertson went to prison for taking political kickbacks, all in the middle of the nation's Watergate scandal.

State Senate leaders Dan Tonkovich and Larry Tucker were both convicted of bribery in 1989. Arch Moore (pictured right), after serving three terms as governor, pleaded guilty in 1990 to taking illegal campaign money and was sentenced to five years. In 1993, two state lottery officials were sent to prison for insider trading.

In 2018, the legislature impeached the entire state Supreme Court. Chief Justice Allen Loughry, who had written a book on the history of political corruption in West Virginia, was himself convicted of criminal charges and served jail time.

Some believe West Virginia isn’t more corrupt than other states but admit that these cases show how politics and justice can be easily influenced by those in power.