A former Butler County auditor was sentenced in a corruption case Friday.
Republican Roger Reynolds was sentenced in the Butler County Common Pleas Court after being convicted back in December on a felony count of unlawful interest in a public contract.
The charge comes after Reynolds suggested Lakota Local Schools officials build a private golf academy with tax money the school district received from the auditor's office.
“While I am disappointed in this sentenced, I am gratified that the court recognized this abuse of public trust warrants at least some jail time,” Attorney General Dave Yost said in a statement. “Every public servant should remember Dave’s rule of ethics: the only benefit you get from your public service is a paycheck and a sense of a job well done.”
The case was prosecuted by the Special Prosecutions Section of the Attorney General’s Office and investigated by the Butler County Sheriff’s Office, Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Ohio Ethics Commission.
Reynolds was forced to resign his position as a public official following that conviction.
He will serve five years of community control and thirty days in county jail. He will also be required to pay a $5,000 fine.