Williams pleaded guilty and was convicted on Sept. 27, 2019 of one felony county of corruptly soliciting a bribe.
Originally published 7/25/19
Former Dayton City Commissioner Joey D. Williams — charged with corruptly soliciting a bribe while in office — is no longer market president at KeyBank, a bank spokeswoman said.
Williams, 53, has been accused of taking more than $50,000 in money and benefits such as home renovations from an unnamed individual in 2015 in exchange for using his influence to get the city and CityWide Development Corp. to award them contracts, according to an indictment made public in late April.
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“Joey Williams has not been an employee of KeyBank since the end of May,” KeyBank spokeswoman Karen Crane said in an email this week. “Jeffery Bardonaro was promoted to commercial sales leader in early June, and now leads the middle market lending team. A Dayton market president has not yet been named.”
Crane declined to comment further, including why Williams is no longer with the company.
Williams began his job with KeyBank in November 2017. A statement from the bank at the time said his job would be to focus on the commercial sector and serve as the external face of KeyBank.
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“Joey will also partner with KeyBank’s Corporate Responsibility Group to develop and implement a community lending and investment strategy, enabling KeyBank to meet its corporate and social responsibilities,” the bank’s statement said.
His attorney, Patrick John Hanley, declined to comment. Williams has pleaded not guilty.
Williams is a Dayton native who also served on the Dayton School Board. Williams abruptly resigned his seat on the city commission in February 2018, shortly after winning re-election in November 2017. One reason he offered for the resignation was that the new job as KeyBank Dayton market president required time and travel.
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Williams was among four Dayton men whose federal charges were made public in late April. All four initially pleaded not guilty. The indictments led a federal prosecutor to say that the investigation found a “culture of corruption” in the Dayton area, and that more indictments would soon be revealed.
Former state Rep. Clayton Luckie, 56, pleaded guilty earlier this month to one count of mail fraud, according to a plea agreement and statement of facts filed with U.S. District Court in Dayton.
“We decided to resolve our issues at this time,” Luckie’s attorney, Aaron Durden, said earlier this month. “I’ll have much more to say at the end of the case. I don’t want to jeopardize this opportunity at this early stage of the case.”
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Luckie owns the land-holding company Kierston Olivia LLC, according to state business records. His company owns a property at the Miamisburg Mound complex, according to county property records. At least one tenant at the property — Integrated Solutions and Services Unlimited — told the Dayton Daily News they terminated a business relationship with Luckie’s company when the charges were made public.
Williams is the second of the accused men to lose his job while awaiting charges. RoShawn Winburn was fired from his job as director of the city of Dayton’s Minority Business Assistance Center in May.
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Winburn is charged with taking bribes in exchange for sharing confidential information about upcoming projects and not fully reviewing the small, disadvantaged, minority or woman-owned business certifications of people and companies, the indictment says.
The fourth man charged is area businessman Brian Higgins. Higgins has an ownership interest in several businesses, according to state records. County court records show he is part-owner of Quincy’s Fish House on North Main Street in Dayton.
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Unlike the other cases, charges against Higgins don’t reference public corruption. They accuse him of insurance fraud stemming from a leaking fish tank at his home.
According to the federal court docket schedule, a final pretrial conference in Williams’ case is set for Feb. 6, 2020.
STAYING WITH THE STORY
The Dayton Daily News first broke the news about a federal investigation into corruption in Dayton. The newspaper will continue to dig into this important story to find out what’s really going on. If you have tips or any information on this investigation, please call or email Lynn Hulsey at 937-225-7455 or lynn.hulsey@coxinc.com. or Josh Sweigart at 937-328-0374 or Josh.Sweigart@coxinc.com.
