Scioto County Commissioner Scottie Powell says the damage done by former Commissioner Bryan Davis went far beyond the nearly $68,000 Davis was ordered to repay.
In a victim impact statement delivered before Davis was sentenced to 30 months in prison Wednesday, Powell said the corruption scandal cost Scioto County public trust, damaged relationships with regional partners and may have cost the county jobs and business opportunities.
It was also the first time Powell said he was publicly revealing many details about what he says happened behind the scenes as the investigation unfolded.
“I served the entire time that Bryan knowingly and willfully perpetuated his lies, theft and fraud committed against our citizens,” Powell told Visiting Judge D. Dean Evans.
Davis pleaded guilty in July to felony counts of Theft in Office, Receiving Stolen Property and Filing an Incomplete, False or Fraudulent Tax Return. On Wednesday, the former commissioner was sentenced to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay approximately $68,000 in restitution.
Powell Says Sentencing Memo Changed What He Planned to Say
Powell said he originally prepared a different victim impact statement, but rewrote it after reading the sentencing memorandum filed by Davis’s attorney.
That memorandum asked the judge to spare Davis from prison, pointing to his lack of a criminal record, community service, church involvement, restitution and other factors.
Powell wasn’t persuaded.
He said the defense and letters submitted in support of Davis repeatedly characterized what happened as misplaced trust, poor judgment and mistakes.
Powell told the court he saw it very differently.
He argued that Davis’s actions weren’t a single lapse in judgment but part of an ongoing effort that continued after questions about the county’s economic development operation began surfacing.
Powell also took issue with the defense’s attempt to place much of the responsibility on former Scioto County Economic Development Director Robert Horton.
“Let me be clear, Robert Horton could not have committed not only this fraud, but then the ongoing obstruction and cover up without the FULL support, knowledge and protection of Bryan Davis,” Powell told the judge.
Horton and his wife remain defendants in the related criminal case, and those charges are still pending.
Powell Describes $10 Million Proposal
Powell then offered the court several examples of what he said he witnessed while serving alongside Davis.
He said that by February 2023 he had learned about O’Steel Ohio, a business connection that later became central to the investigation.
At around the same time, Powell said Davis was pushing for the county to finance another $10 million building.
According to Powell, Davis warned that failing to move ahead could jeopardize existing jobs in Minford as well as more than 200 jobs at another location.
Powell said Horton, meanwhile, was attempting to convince a prospective tenant that it needed to use an O’Steel building because of warranty issues with its existing building.
Powell said he stopped the proposal.
He told the court he later learned that the project was unlikely to have created any new jobs.
These are Powell’s descriptions of events in his victim impact statement and should be distinguished from the specific criminal charges to which Davis pleaded guilty.
Powell Says Employees Were Targeted
Powell also described what he characterized as attempts to find out who was cooperating with investigators.
He said Horton received notice during fair week in 2023 that a fraud allegation had been made involving economic development.
Within hours, according to Powell, Davis was examining personnel records to determine whether an employee he suspected of speaking to investigators was classified or unclassified.
Powell said he believed the goal was to determine whether the employee could be fired.
Powell said he prevented that from happening, but claimed the atmosphere created by Davis and Horton nevertheless drove employees away. He said some left their positions while another longtime employee transferred to another county office after being interviewed by the Auditor of State.
What Happened After Investigators Searched the Office
Powell said the situation became much more serious in the fall of 2024 when the Auditor of State’s Office executed a search warrant at the economic development office.
According to Powell, he and then-Commissioner Cathy Coleman placed Horton on paid administrative leave while Davis was out of town.
Powell said that changed after Davis returned.
He told the court Davis convinced Coleman that Horton needed to return because leaving him off the job could put the county in financial danger.
Powell also accused Davis and Horton of moving economic development records and employees from a recently renovated office into a much less visible garage location.
“It is exactly what you would imagine if you said someone went into hiding,” Powell told the court.
$150,000 Proposal Before Horton Indictment
Powell said another confrontation came in January 2025, shortly before Horton was indicted.
According to Powell, Davis wanted the county to give the Southern Ohio Port Authority $150,000.
Powell said the plan would have allowed Horton, who headed the Port Authority, to hire himself to oversee economic development while reducing direct oversight by the county commissioners.
Powell said he opposed the proposal and was able to put enough barriers in its way that it didn’t happen before Horton was indicted in February 2025.
Again, these allegations come from Powell’s statement in court. The criminal cases against Horton and his wife have not yet been resolved.
“This Was Not a One-Time Mistake”
Those examples formed the heart of Powell’s argument to the judge.
“This was not a one time mistake,” Powell said. “This was not trusting others too much. This was not misplaced trust.”
Instead, Powell described what happened as a sustained abuse of an elected position.
The Auditor of State’s investigation ultimately concluded that Horton received kickbacks connected with a public contract for construction at the SOAR Business Park and that Davis used his position as commissioner to help secure the contract and public funding involved. Davis admitted guilt to three felony charges; Horton and his wife still have pending cases.
Powell Says Damage Can’t Be Measured Just in Dollars
Powell told the court that he believes one of the biggest consequences of the scandal may never be calculated.
He said relationships with regional partners suffered and that Scioto County’s economic development efforts stalled while surrounding counties continued pursuing projects.
“It is hard to say how many jobs we lost, how many opportunities were passed, and how many businesses went elsewhere,” Powell said.
He also claimed that he had heard from at least one company interested in expanding in Scioto County whose discussions stopped after the project didn’t involve a metal building handled through Horton and the Port Authority.
Powell argued that this is why the impact shouldn’t be measured only by the amount of restitution Davis was ordered to pay.
“Not only have we lost jobs and opportunities, but the public trust has been shattered,” he told the judge.
Judge Sends Davis to Prison
Davis’s attorney had asked the court for community control rather than incarceration.
The judge went the other direction.
Davis received a 30-month prison sentence Wednesday. He must also pay approximately $68,000 in restitution. His felony conviction for Theft in Office also bars him from holding public office in the future.
For Powell, the sentencing was about more than punishment for one former commissioner.
He closed his victim impact statement by telling the judge that the sentence would send a message about what happens when an elected official abuses the public’s trust.
“The public needs to know, and elected officials need to understand, that if you use your position to steal from your community, you will be held to the highest standards allowed under the law.”