Nix pleads guilty

Demetreus Nix is going to jail.

The community leader and former candidate for Niagara Falls Mayor pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of felony attempted criminal mischief for an incident last January in which he trashed the interior of a pair of homes he renovated for developer Rod Davis who had not paid for the work at the Pierce Avenue properties.

Nix, 37, agreed to a sentence from County Judge Ottaviano not to exceed 364 days and to make $32,000 in restitution. If he fails to make restitution, he could be headed to State prison for 1 ⅓ to 5 years.

He told the Express in a phone interview he will be working with legal and tax advisers to identify how to raise the cash by a May deadline from billables in his business as well as by selling property.

“I got work, I got jobs, I got to struggle and come up with the money,” Nix said.

He was initially charged with a trio of felonies including grand larceny and burglary.

“We could beat the burglary, we could be the larceny but I broke the stuff. I didn’t break nothing that wasn’t mine” he said.

One troubling detail for Nix is he said Davis owed him $15,000 but yet redoing the work is costing $32,000.

“Criminally I was wrong,” he said. “Civilly I was right.”

The sharply dressed and slick speaking Davis had a short run in Niagara Falls.

In January, 2023, the city council agreed to sell 10 distressed downtown properties for $50,000. Davis was also in line for a $1 million state grant that would reimburse him for renovation work.

After the deal was announced, Davis was exposed for having a checkered history. He was apparently not vetted by the city or state. Numerous citizens came forward to report troubled business dealings with the leader of Power City Ventures LLC.

Nix sees Davis’s fall from grace as vindication. The distressed properties Mayor Robert Restaino agreed to sell Davis remain distressed. The grant has never resurfaced. Neither has Davis.

Nix said he had plans in place if he was taken into custody Thursday to manage his affairs and raise the required cash.

While incarcerated, he said he will work on plans for the Entrepreneur School of Thought, the community and the We All We Got movement.

“Praise be Allah,” Nix said. “The plan is not to waste a day, get in there and not waste a second.”

Defense Attorney Rodney Giove negotiated the plea deal and connected Nix with advisers who will help get his business, and school on more solid legal and financial footing.

He hopes to qualify the school for 501c status so community programs being offered through the school can be expanded through the use of grants.

“I still don’t see another way I could have done that,” Nix said, “I exposed the Mayor and Rod Davis.”