Marathon Pundit: 21 month sentence in Kentucky vote-buying case

In a case I've closely following, Bath County (Kentucky) Attorney Donald "Champ" Maze, a Democrat, received a 21 month sentence for his role in a vote buying scandal.

From the Lexington Herald-Leader:

Maze was indicted in October on charges that he bought votes, tried to persuade two potential witnesses not to testify against him and lied to the grand jury about his involvement in the vote-buying scheme.

He abruptly pleaded guilty to vote-buying and the perjury charges in the middle of his February trial after federal prosecutors discovered that Maze and others had tried to contact a member of his jury. As part of his plea agreement, federal prosecutors agreed not to prosecute Maze on jury-tampering charges.

Ned Pillersdorf, Maze’s attorney, told U.S. District Judge Joseph Hood that his client never set out to break the law. Maze witnessed widespread vote-buying at the Bath County courthouse in the weeks leading up to the primary. Maze, who was in a hotly contested race for county attorney, reacted poorly, Pillersdorf said.

Maze won the election but resigned after pleading guilty.