LEXINGTON, Ky. —Two more citizens of Bath County, Roosevelt “Sonny” Swartz of Olympia, Ky., and Charles “Chuck” Hart of Salt Lick, Ky., were indicted for charges of conspiracy to buy votes in relation to the May 2006 primary.

Hart, 54, was also indicted for charges of vote buying, making false statements to a federal agent, obstruction of justice and endeavoring to influence a jury. The indictment alleges that sometime between Feb. 6 and Feb. 9 of 2007, Hart conspired with Donald “Champ” Maze, Paul Goodpaster and others to corruptly influence and impede a jury trial.

The indictment alleges that, while a spectator in the jury trial for U.S. v. Donald “Champ” Maze, Goodpaster recorded the juror numbers of the 14 selected jurors to serve in that trial. One of the co-conspirators pulled from a stack of juror information forms, those that pertained to the selected 14 jurors.

Maze, Goodpaster and Hart then met in Goodpaster’s office in Owingsville to discuss contacting one or more of the jurors selected, in an attempt to influence the opinion of the juror. They examined the juror information forms and identified a juror whose employer was known to Hart.

Hart, in the presence of Goodpaster and Maze, called the supervisor of one of the jurors and inquired of the supervisor “what kind of person” was the juror.

After the trial judge directed the FBI to begin an investigation into jury tampering, Maze called his office and instructed one of his employees to throw away any copies of the jury list and to contact anyone who had been given the jury list and tell them to get rid of it. One of the co-conspirators then sent word to Hart that an investigation into jury tampering had begun and the FBI would be coming to interview him.

The indictment also alleges that Hart knowingly made a materially false statement to an FBI agent, telling the agent he did not know where he obtained the list and that he did not discuss any jurors with the supervisor of one of the jurors.

It also alleges that Hart made a materially false statement to a second FBI agent, telling the agent he had not discussed trying to influence a juror with Maze and had only used the list to determine whether he or Goodpaster would be a more appealing character witness to the jury.

If convicted, Hart faces up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years supervised release.

Swartz’s indictment alleges that at various dates in early May of last year, he and Walter Shrout, gave several thousand dollars in cash to Norman Crouch, Mike Butcher, Anthony “Buck” White, Steven Crouch, and Belinda Crouch so that they could use the money to pay persons to vote for Walter Shrout in the May 2006 primary for County Judge Executive.

If convicted, Swartz, 68, faces up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years supervised release.

The investigations were conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Indictment was presented to the grand jury by Assistant United States Attorney Kenneth R. Taylor.

Hart and Swartz's appearance before the United States District Court has not yet been set by the Court in Lexington. Ky.

The indictment of a person by a grand jury is an accusation only

and that person is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.