A former West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining $94-thousand federal abandoned mine land grant funds while he was employed by the DEP. Jerry D. Elkins of Danville admitted to stealing the funds from October 2018 through August 2019 after registering a shell limited liability company in Delaware to receive a portion of subgrant award funds and created fraudulent invoices to hide payments, according to his plea agreement. Elkins worked as a DEP regional planner.