Carl “Doug” Walker, the former Union Township administrator who was charged for repeatedly contracting with his son’s engineering firm while in office, was sentenced to five months of probation and nearly $50,000 in fines July 16.

Walker pleaded guilty April 30 to 15 counts of having unlawful interest in a public contract and tampering with evidence while he was administrator.

On July 16, Walker appeared before Clermont County Common Pleas Court Judge James Brogan for sentencing and to settle on restitution amount.

“The court has reviewed the probation report,” Judge Brogan said. “It pointed out a number of things that make the case more serious or less serious.”

Judge Brogan said what make the case more serious is that the victim, Union Township, suffered economic harm because of the decisions made by Walker. He said what also makes the case more serious is the fact that Walker did hold a public office.

“You are duty-bound knowing you couldn’t do that,” Judge Brogan said about working with his son’s firm.

On the other hand, Judge Brogan said because of Walker’s age, and because of what happened he does not think it is likely that Walker will hold another office, whether in Florida, where he lives now, or in Clermont County.

“In terms of determining the proper sentence, the court is always concerned as to what message this sends to others of the same conduct,” Judge Brogan said.

Judge Brogan announced Walker’s sentence to be a total of six years in prison, along with a total fine of $17,500 for the 15 counts.

“The court will suspend that sentence and place the defendant on probation for a period of five years,” Judge Brogan said.

Judge Brogan said he carefully considered other similar court cases as well as what happened in court to make his decision.

“I have considered carefully the recent opinion in Warren County,” Judge Brogan said. “I have relied on testimony in court and the probation department opinion that probation is appropriate in this case.”

Because more than $200,000 restitution requested by the prosecution was contested, Judge Brogan also held a hearing for both the defense and the prosecution attorneys to discuss what they felt would be the appropriate restitution amount.

The defense called Mark Walker, Doug Walker’s son who operated Professional Engineering Group, to the stand.

Walker explained that he felt the jobs he was asked to perform for the township were jobs that had been discussed by multiple township officials and were beneficial to the township.

“There is no restitution needed, necessary, there is no restitution Mr. Walker should be charged,” John McNally Jr., defense attorney, said after questioning Mark Walker.

Clermont County Assistant Prosecutor Daniel “Woody” Breyer also questioned Mark Walker during a cross-examination about the process in which proposals and purchase orders were approved and whether or not the engineering work could have been done in-house.

“My suggestion is that had Mark Walker not been the son of Doug Walker, these jobs would not have been done,” Breyer said.

Breyer said in addition, many of the documents detailing the work were created after the fact, back-dated and approved by trustees.

After hearing the arguments from both attorneys, Judge Brogan ordered Walker to pay $10,000 in restitution to the Union Township Police Department for their work in the investigation and $36,000 for one of the counts he believed was unnecessary work in the township.

Judge Brogan said Walker could pay the restitution over a five year-period and also provided details about his five-year probation.

Clermont County Prosecutor Donald White said he did not expect walker to go to jail, but had hoped the judge would have required Walker to pay more in restitution.

“The problem we had from the beginning was proving the work wasn’t done,” White said about the case.

Judge Brogan did commend the prosecutor’s office for its work on the investigation.

“I can’t say how impressed I am with the manner the case was presented by he Clermont County Prosecutor’s Office,” Judge Brogan said. “It was an unfortunate situation. I think it sends the proper lesson to the community and others.”