Former Bath County attorney wanted on drug charges turns himself in

A former Bath County attorney who served 21 months in federal prison on perjury and vote-buying charges has turned himself in to Montgomery County authorities on drug and other charges.

A warrant for the arrest of Donald “Champ” Maze, 57, of Bath County, was issued for trafficking in a controlled substance, two counts of wanton endangerment and one count of being a persistent felony offender. Mount Sterling police issued a plea via its Facebook page Dec. 8 for anyone to contact them if they knew the whereabouts of Maze, who served three terms as Bath County attorney before being defeated in 2002.

WKYT-TV reported late Tuesday that a lawyer representing Maze told the television station that the former prosecutor turned himself in Monday.

The drug and other charges are just the latest of Maze’s legal troubles.

In November, he was indicted by a Bath County grand jury on charges including trafficking in heroin; five counts of trafficking in an unspecified controlled substance drug; and trafficking in a controlled substance of more than 10 dosage units.

In a separate indictment in September, he was charged with possession of methamphetamine. Maze turned himself in on the Bath County charges and posted bail.

The Montgomery County charges appear to be in addition to the Bath County charges.

In 2007, Maze was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison. He had abruptly pleaded guilty to vote-buying and perjury charges in the middle of his trial in February after federal investigators discovered that he and others had tried to contact a juror in his trial. As part of his plea deal with prosecutors, Maze wasn’t prosecuted on the jury-tampering charges.

Maze was one of 10 people charged in connection with buying votes in the May 2006 Bath County election.

This story was originally published December 11, 2017 at 7:30 PM with the headline "Former Bath County attorney wanted on drug charges turns himself in."