Defense attorney Andrew Coiner, defendant Steve Davidson and prosecutor
Gale Cook leave the courtroom after Monday's pleading.
SEE MORE PHOTOS FROM DAVIDSON'S AUG. 10 COURT APPERANCE.
News from August 17, 2006 issue
Davidson will pay back $210K
It’s still unclear where Steve Davidson, the once Chamber of Commerce Man of the Year, will spend his two months in jail. If he does it in Marion, Davidson will have to pay for his own incarceration.
Last Thursday, Davidson, 63, pleaded guilty to stealing more than $236,000 from the Crittenden County Economic Development Corporation (CCEDC) while he was president and CEO of the group from late 1998 to 2005. He also said he was guilty of stealing the identity of another former CCEDC employee in order to qualify for a credit card.
As part of the plea agreement, Commonwealth Attorney Gale Cook, the special prosecutor from Murray, has recommended that Davidson pay back $210,000 and serve 60 days of a 10-year sentence. She recommended that the remainder of Davidson’s sentence be probated for five years.
Cook said the deal may seem to include a light sentence, but it was important for the CCEDC to get its money back.
“The agreement was recommended based on Kentucky statute and the fact he’s eligible for probation,” Cook said.
Since Davidson has no prior criminal record and is making restitution, Cook said there is a chance his sentence would have been probated by the court anyway.
“At least with this, if it’s accepted by the judge, he’ll serve some jail time,” she said.
Circuit Judge Rene Williams will formally sentence Davidson on Sept. 14.
“I'm pleased,” Cook said after last week’s court proceedings. “Restitution was important.”
Davidson must repay $200,000 by Sept. 14. The remaining money will be repaid in monthly payments of $187.28 over a 54-month period after he serves the jail sentence.
Investigators say Davidson used credit cards and another in the name of the CCEDC to embezzle thousands of dollars over a six-year period. Records show that hundreds of charges were made for cash withdrawals from ATMs at banks and casinos, for golfing equipment and green fees, cigars, hotel rooms, airline tickets, items from souvenir shops and department stores, and for Major League Baseball and show tickets.
Davidson, who was only a few years ago honored by the local Chamber of Commerce for his work with the CCEDC, is now looking for a job, his attorney said.
Andrew Coiner of Paducah has represented Davidson through the criminal case.
He said Davidson will forfeit his $50,000 bond fee which will go toward restitution. The balance of the money for restitution will come from Davidson’s personal retirement funds, a mortgage on his home on Marion Country Club’s golf course and from family members, his attorney said.
Davidson liquidated personal assets to pay his bond after being arrested at his home in March.
Davidson appeared in court alone last week except for his attorney. Davidson told The Press that he would not have any statement to make himself.
“If anything is said it will be through my attorney,” he said.
Coiner said Davidson has accepted responsibility for his actions.
“When he pleaded guilty, basically what he said was I did it and I agree to pay for it in money and time,” Coiner said.
“He has a bunch of money to pay back so he’s obviously going to be looking for gainful employment,” Coiner added. “A few people out there still have a lot of respect for Steve Davidson and see some benefit to him working for their company. He has some leads on jobs and I think some are in Marion.”
It’s not exactly clear where Davidson will serve the 60-day sentence, if the judge upholds the plea agreement.
The state Department of Corrections will determine the site for serving the 60 days. It is unlikely he would serve the time in the Crittenden County Jail since it is not certified by the state for long-term incarceration. Most of the county’s state inmates are taken to jails in Murray and Hopkinsville.
Davidson’s attorney said he understands that his client could indeed do his jail time in Marion, if he pays for his own incarceration. At this point, Coiner said he is not sure whether Davidson can afford to do that.
“His intention was to serve it in Marion,” Coiner said. “We didn’t know that he couldn’t do that until he met with the pretrial officer last week.”
In the felony indictments returned last spring, Davidson was charged with 15 counts of using credit cards to embezzle $236,313.58. Cook said Davidson claimed that $26,000 in cash that he withdrew at ATMs was for legitimate economic development expenses.
Cook said it was difficult to determine how the cash was used, so she accepted his claim. The insurance company that held “an employee dishonesty bond” on Davidson will be reimbursed $75,000, and the rest will go to the Crittenden County Economic Development Corp.
Lee Conrad, the current director of the local economic development group, issued a short statement after Davidson’s plea was entered. Conrad said the following statement would be all the group would have to say at this time.
“The Crittenden County Economic Development Corporation accepts the outcome of the case involving Steve Davidson’s embezzlement. Our stated goal since the beginning of the investigation has been to recover as much of the stolen money as possible and that justice be served. The CCEDC is pleased with the way that the court system handled the case and looks forward to building into the future,” the group said in its prepared statement.
Conrad did explain that the CCEDC has completely reorganized the way it handles its finances.
“We’re undergoing an independent audit this week,” he said Friday.
With funding now in place for a school resource officer, Crittenden County Sheriff Wayne Agent and the Crittenden County School Board have hired city policeman Greg Rushing.
School officials had been lobbying the Crittenden Fiscal Court to help fund the officer’s salary and benefits. Early this week, the school system and county struck a deal that allowed the sheriff to hire a deputy to work 175 days at the high school and middle school and spend the rest of the year patrolling the county.
Rushing, a 17-year city officer, confirmed Tuesday that he has been hired and will start work on campus Sept. 5.
County magistrates approved paying up to $6,000 for the first year of the program. The school system had already budgeted $20,000 for the resource officer, and upon recommendation from Superintendent John Belt the school board upped its figure to $24,000 during Tuesday night’s board meeting.
As a sheriff’s deputy, the resource officer will have full arrest powers.
Morgan Lynn had her passport in order, was packed and ready for
her flight last week. Lynn, a high school senior, will study in Belgium this fall.
Lynn CCHS's first exchange student
Morgan Lynn, daughter of Vickie and Allen Lynn, left Friday for Belgium to spend six months as a foreign exchange student, despite heightened security risks in Europe.
Just one day before she departed, the United Kingdom’s terrorist alert went to “critical,” it’s highest alert rating. Hundreds of thousands of travelers were stranded as officials thwarted a proposed terrorist plot likened to the scale of the 9-11 attacks, according to the New York Times.
“People tell me they would be too scared to go, but I feel completely comfortable with this,” Lynn said just before departing Marion for the airport.
Lynn said her parents are naturally worried about their only child going half way around the world. However, she says her parents have been very supportive of the opportunity to study abroad.
“They know I really want to do this, so they are gritting their teeth and supporting me all the way.”
Since she was young Lynn dreamed of participating in an exchange program.
“I went to my counselor in the eighth grade and told her I wanted to do an exchange program. She said, ‘but you’re only in the eight grade,’” she said laughingly.
Lynn will live in the city of Froidchapelle, which is about an hour south of Brussels, the country’s capital.
She will stay in a host home and attend to a French speaking private school. Lynn has been studying French for the last four years.
While Lynn is the first exchange student in Crittenden High School history, she is no stranger to travel. This will be her fourth trip to Europe.
Lynn says she fell in love with Belgium almost immediately, after visiting the country last spring.
“You step off the train and you know you are somewhere special.”
She was visiting friends who live in the Netherlands and took a trip to Belgium.
“There is something really cool about Belgium. The people are fun. I feel like I fit in,” said Lynn.
After graduating high school, she plans to study international politics and hopes to make several more trips overseas.