From the Lexington Herald-Leader:
A Bath County contractor decided Monday to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to buy votes rather than take his chances with a federal jury.
Roosevelt "Sonny" Swartz, who owns a mowing company with several contracts with the state highway department, will be sentenced Aug. 6. Under the federal sentencing guidelines, Swartz faces up to five years. Those guidelines are no longer mandatory and Swartz likely will receive less than the five-year maximum.
Swartz’s guilty plea came on the last day of his trial. The jury was expected to begin deliberating Monday. Swartz is one of 12 people who have been charged for allegedly buying votes during the two weeks of absentee voting before the May 2006 primary in Bath County. Federal prosecutors say Swartz provided money to an assortment of vote buyers who were working for Walter Shrout, the incumbent judge-executive who was running in the Democratic primary. Shrout won the primary and November’s general election. In March, Shrout was convicted on several vote-buying related charges. He resigned from the county’s top job.
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