A former Ohio county commissioner is now behind bars for his part in a public contracting scheme. The man accused of actually running the kickback side of that scheme is still waiting for his case to be resolved. And that man’s wife just had her charges dropped entirely.
This is Scioto County, Ohio, home to the Southern Ohio Aeronautical Regional Business Park, known as SOAR, next to the Greater Portsmouth Regional Airport.
Who Was Involved
Bryan Davis, a Republican, served as a Scioto County Commissioner. Part of that job was overseeing public contracting.
Robert Horton ran the Southern Ohio Port Authority. He also ran the county’s economic development office.
Both men had a hand in decisions tied to the same business park and the same public money.
The Guilty Pleas
On July 20, 2026, Bryan Davis and his wife, Lorinda Davis, pleaded guilty in Scioto County Common Pleas Court, according to WOUB’s reporting.
Bryan admitted to felony theft in office, receiving stolen property, and filing an incomplete or false tax return. Lorinda admitted to tampering with evidence.
Where the Money Allegedly Went
The case grew out of an investigation by the Ohio Auditor of State’s Special Investigations Unit. Investigators looked at a contract with an out-of-state company to build a facility at the SOAR Business Park.
The auditor’s office alleged that Robert Horton collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks connected to that contract. Investigators said the money was funneled through a company called RPL Consulting, which was tied to Horton’s wife, Lioubov Horton.
Horton originally faced 15 felony counts, including bribery, money laundering, and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, per the auditor’s release.
The Sentence
On September 16 and 17, 2026, a judge sentenced Bryan Davis to 30 months in prison and ordered roughly $68,000 in restitution, according to WSAZ. The conviction also bars Davis from holding Ohio public office again.
Ohio Auditor Keith Faber said his office would keep finding and prosecuting officials who lie, cheat, and steal from the public, according to the auditor’s statement.
On October 5, 2026, Davis reported to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction to begin serving his sentence. His expected release date is March 16, 2029, according to Heritage Headlines.
What Happened to the Hortons
Robert Horton had a status conference on September 16, 2026, the same day Davis was sentenced. No public final disposition has been entered in his case. His attorney has claimed a cooperation agreement with prosecutors, but that agreement remains unconfirmed in court filings, per WSAZ’s reporting.
The next day, prosecutors moved to dismiss the charges against Lioubov Horton. According to the Scioto County Daily News, prosecutors argued she had been directed by others and lacked the knowledge needed for criminal culpability over the disguised payments.
Reading the Record
This next part is our read on the record, not a reported fact.
Two wives were tied to companies connected to the alleged kickback money in this case. One of them, Lorinda Davis, pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence. The other, Lioubov Horton, had her charges dismissed on the grounds she didn’t know enough to be culpable.
Meanwhile, the man convicted of theft in office is already in prison. The man accused of running the kickback scheme that put money in his pocket is still waiting on a resolution, with an unconfirmed cooperation deal doing the talking for now.
Whether that adds up to equal justice, or something else, is worth asking out loud.
Go to themoraldecayindex.com and read the sourcing yourself. Then tell us your verdict.