Former state representative and Butler County Commissioner Michael Fox is out of federal prison. He is finishing his four-year sentence in home confinement. His final release date is scheduled for December 15.
Fox pleaded guilty in 2012 to wire and mail fraud as well as filing a false tax return. The charges stemmed from Fox's involvement in The Dynus Corporation, a company that took out a fraudulent loan claiming it had a contract with Butler County.
As WVXU reported in 2012:
It was (then Butler County) Commissioner Chuck Furmon who helped turn Fox in. He says he called the FBI when Butler County got an errant bill saying it owed $6.5 million and was late on one of the payments. Furmon says the county already had a fiber optic loop when it loaned a couple of strands to Dynus to market it. That's when prosecutors say the company took out an illegal loan in the county's name.
Dynus took down others. Owner Orlando Carter is serving 15 years behind bars. Former company president James Smith was sentenced to 15 months in jail, and former County Auditor Kay Rodgers resigned and pleaded guilty to bank fraud.