Vinton County Township Trustee Pleads Guilty to Theft, Fuel Fraud

Wesley Davidson, a trustee for Harrison Township in Vinton County, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a felony count of theft in office after admitting he repeatedly used the township's fuel account to fill his personal vehicle, according to the Ohio Auditor of State's Special Investigations Unit.

Davidson's plea was filed in Vinton County Common Pleas Court, where he admitted to the charge outlined in a bill of information. The SIU determined he had tapped the township fuel account on dozens of separate occasions, with the total fuel bills exceeding $2,300.

The investigation began in July 2025 after Harrison Township's fiscal officer raised concerns with auditors about Davidson's fuel use. That internal report triggered the SIU probe, which ultimately produced the evidence supporting the theft-in-office charge.

Prosecutors are seeking restitution covering both the fuel bills and the costs of the audit, along with other sentencing terms not yet specified in court filings. No sentencing date has been publicly announced. Davidson's plea also carries a lasting consequence beyond any criminal penalty: it bars him from holding public office in Ohio.

The Davidson case is the latest in a pattern of township-level financial misconduct prosecuted in Vinton County. In October 2022, former Vinton Township fiscal officer Cyril "Cy" Vierstra pleaded guilty in the same Vinton County Common Pleas Court to five felony counts and one misdemeanor, including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, theft in office, and three counts of tampering with records. Vierstra had used township debit and credit cards and checks between January 2016 and July 2020 to fund renovations to his personal residence and cover expenses at Union Ridge Wildlife Center, a nonprofit roadside zoo he operated in Wilkesville. An audit revealed $287,565 in financial losses attributable to theft; Vierstra was ordered to pay $339,717.86 in restitution, a figure that included stolen funds and audit costs. In February 2023, a Vinton County judge sentenced him to four years and 11 months in prison.

At the time of Vierstra's sentencing, Auditor of State Keith Faber, whose office also oversees the SIU that investigated Davidson, put the stakes plainly: "These public funds should have gone to roads, fire and police protection, and other services taxpayers rely on, not for a twisty slide for someone's pet primates."

Faber's office has not yet issued a public statement specifically addressing Davidson's sentencing, as that hearing remains pending.