By Mary McCarty and Laura A. Bischoff

Staff Writers

Before he was led away in handcuffs after being charged with theft in office, money laundering and other felony charges, Clayton Luckie seemed the epitome of the hometown success story.

He grew up in a middle-class West Dayton family and played basketball at Chaminade-Julienne High School, graduating in 1981. After serving 10 years on the Dayton school board, he was elected to the legislature representing Daytons 39th House District.

He drove a Cadillac Escalade, wore finely-tailored suits and bought a home for his mother in Springboro.

I was really impressed by how good he was to his mother, noted Mario Gallin, who was often an adversary on the Dayton school board. That seemed counter to his image as the super politician.

Some privately wondered how Luckies lifestyle reconciled with his $68,000 income as a state representative and less than $10,000 from his part-time job as director of sales for Johnson Energy Co. There was always smoke, but I never saw any flames, Gallin said. Nothing happened that was anything but proper and above board.

Gallin was among those caught off-guard last week by the news that Luckie had been indicted on 49 criminal charges, including theft in office, money laundering, election falsification, tampering with records, and tampering with evidence and forgery. The indictment says that over his six years in the Ohio House he stole nearly $130,000 from his campaign account.

If convicted, he could spend years in prison.

Its no secret we werent friends, Gallin said of the six years the two served together on the school board. But, she said, Luckie cared about the school district and was an advocate for children.

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Hometown success story faces possible prison time