February 14, 2026
FROM THE STEUBEN COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEYS OFFICE: A week-long jury trial concluded late Friday afternoon with a Steuben County Jury returning a guilty verdict, convicting Terry L. Champion, 57 of McIntyre Court, Campbell of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, a class B felony and Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, also a class B felony.
Champion was convicted of possessing with intent to sell, and selling, more than 7 grams of methamphetamine to a Steuben County Sheriff’s Office informant on May 30, 2024 from his home in the Town of Campbell. The Investigation was directed by Steuben County Sheriff’s Investigator Marcus Smith, with assistance from other Sheriff’s Office Investigators and in cooperation with Bath Village Police Investigator Micheal Jackson. Smith, Jackson, Inv. Brook Payne and Inv. Sheppard were all called to testify at trial. The New York State Police Lab also provided an expert witness who identified the drugs and their quantity for the jury.
District Attorney Brooks Baker tried the case for the People. Thomas Plan, an assigned attorney from Yates County, served as lead Defense Attorney with Attorney Neil Gunther of Rochester serving as second chair at Plan’s request. Baker was pleased with the verdict: “In this case the proof demonstrated Terry Champion was a wholesale level dealer of methamphetamine, selling in quantities to supply lower level dealers. He is the kind of drug dealer we need to target and take off the street to protect our community. Here, the Steuben County Sherriff’s Office worked cooperatively with the Bath Village Department and the District Attorney’s Office to get that job done. The entire investigative team here worked with professionalism and dedication ensuring a solid investigation, leading to a solid trial presentation and ultimately a guilty verdict – they made the People of Steuben County safer today.”
Champion who now faces up to 9 years in prison when he next appears before Steuben County Court Judge Mathew McCarthy for sentencing on April 25, 2025, was remanded, without bail, to the Steuben County Jail after the verdict was read.
