Ross Harris, vote-buying figure, dies By Deborah Yetter, The Courier-Journal.com, June 27, 2006 Ross Harris, a wealthy Pikeville businessman convicted two years ago in an Eastern Kentucky vote-buying scheme, died Saturday of cancer. He was 59. Harris was best known throughout the region as a successful coal operator, lawyer and philanthropist until his involvement in the vote-buying case emerged following his 2003 indictment. After his 2004 conviction, Harris, suffering from cancer his doctors said was terminal, was sentenced to 18 months of home confinement because of his poor health. He died at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, where he had been undergoing treatment. Up to his death, Harris remained convinced he was unfairly convicted and was helping his lawyers pursue an appeal, said Larry Mackey of Indianapolis, one of Harris' lawyers. "A lot of his heart and soul went into the appeal," Mackey said. Mackey said a decision from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is still expected despite Harris' death because a co-defendant, Glen Turner, had raised identical issues. "We're waiting, as was Ross, anxiously," Mackey said. Yesterday, Velma J. Childers, a longtime friend from Pikeville, said she hopes Harris is remembered for more than the vote-buying case. "Ross Harris was a wonderful man," said Childers, a longtime leader in local political and civic events. "I never once asked for a charitable contribution that he didn't give what I asked." Harris was a low-key person whose dress -- jeans, boots and flannel shirts -- belied the wealth he amassed from his coal business, she said. "He never bragged or flaunted anything," she said. Louisville lawyer Scott C. Cox, who also had represented Harris, said he was an astute businessman and dedicated to Eastern Kentucky. "He was very smart and very focused on his business and his family," Cox said. At his trial, federal prosecutors alleged he was the kingpin in a scheme to buy votes by supplying thousands of dollars in cash for two 2002 local elections: the re-election campaign of Knott County Judge-Executive Donnie Newsome and the campaign for former state Sen. John Doug Hays, who ran unsuccessfully for Pike District Court judge. He and Turner, an employee, were convicted after a four-week trial in U.S. District Court. Harris also was linked to an ethics complaint filed against Kentucky Chief Justice Joseph Lambert through nine $1,000 contributions Harris funneled through others to Lambert's wife, Debra Lambert, for her 2000 campaign for family court. The complaint accused Justice Lambert of failing to recuse himself from a state court case involving a $14.5 million award to Harris in 2001. The state Judicial Conduct Commission dismissed the complaint in March. It determined that Justice Lambert wasn't aware of the allegations involving the donations to his wife when he voted on the Harris case. Justice Lambert issued a statement after the commission ruling showing it confirmed that he and his wife "did nothing wrong." Visitation is scheduled for today and tomorrow, after 6 p.m. at J.W. Call Funeral Home in Pikeville. The funeral is set for 1 p.m. Thursday at Allen First Baptist Church in Watergap, in Floyd County.