1. Name and Address of Reporting Person
Lefferson, C. Douglas
180 Gay Street
Williamsburg, OH 45176
2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol
First Financial Bancorp (FFBC)
3. IRS or Social Security Number of Reporting Person (Voluntary)
272-48-7573
4. Statement for Month/Day/Year
01/27/2003
5. If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Day/Year)
6. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable)
( ) Director ( ) 10% Owner
(X) Officer (give title below) ( ) Other (specify below)
Executive Officer
7. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line)
(X) Form filed by One Reporting Person
( ) Form filed by More than One Reporting Person
TABLE I -- Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
+------------------------------+----------+----------+---------+--------------------------+--------------+-----------+------------+
|1. Title of Security |2. Trans- |2A.Execu- |3. Trans-|4. Securities Acquired (A)|5. Amount of |6. Owner- |7. Nature |
| | action | action | action| or Disposed of (D) |Securities | ship | of In- |
| | Date | Date | Code | |Beneficially | Form: | direct |
| | | | | |Owned | Direct | Bene- |
| | (Month/ | (Month/ | | |Following | (D) or | ficial |
| | Day/ | Day/ +-----+---+-----------+---+----------+Reported | Indirect| Owner- |
| | Year) | Year) |Code |V |Amount |A/D|Price |Transaction(s)| (I) | ship |
+------------------------------+----------+----------+-----+---+-----------+---+----------+--------------+-----------+------------+
Common Stock 01/27/2003 J 1271 A $0.0000 8276 D
Common Stock 7798 I 401-K
Common Stock 01/27/2003 J -1271 D $0.0000 22121 I Resticted
Award
TABLE II -- Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
+----------+--------+-------+-------+---------+-----------+---------------------+----------------+----------+-------+-------+------+
|1. |2. |3. |3A. |4. |5. |6. |7. |8. |9. |10. |11. |
| | | | | | | | | |Number |Owner- | |
| | | | | | | | | |of |ship | |
| | | | | | | | | |Deriv- |Form of| |
| | | | | | | |Title and Amount| |ative |Deriv- | |
| | | | | | | |of Underlying | |Secur- |ative |Nature|
| |Conver- |Trans- |Execu- | |Number of | |Securities | |ities |Secur- |of |
| |sion or |action |tion | |Derivative |Date Exercisable +-------+--------+ |Benefi-|ity: |In- |
| |Exercise|Date |Date | |Securities |and Expiration Date | |Amount | |cially |Direct |direct|
| |Price of| | |Transac- |Acquired(A)|(Month/Day/Year) | |or | |Owned |(D) or |Bene- |
|Title of |Deriv- |(Month/|(Month/|tion Code|Disposed(D)+----------+----------+ |Number |Price of | |In- |ficial|
|Derivative|ative | Day/ | Day/ +------+--+-----+-----+Date Exer-|Expira- | |of |Derivative| |direct |Owner-|
|Security |Security|Year) |Year) |Code |V |(A) |(D) |cisable |tion Date |Title |Shares |Security | |(I) |ship |
+----------+--------+-------+-------+------+--+-----+-----+----------+----------+-------+--------+----------+-------+-------+------+
1996 (ISO) $11.3019 01/24/2006 Common 1537 D
Stock Stock
Option
1998 (ISO) $19.087 01/27/2008 Common 1271 D
Stock Stock
Option
1999 (ISO) $22.565 01/25/2009 Common 4201 D
Stock Stock
Option
1999 (NQ) $22.565 06/12/2010 Common 1574 D
Stock Stock
Option
2000 (ISO) $17.56 01/24/2010 Common 5694 D
Stock Stock
Option
2000 (NQ) $17.56 01/24/2010 Common 6433 D
Stock Stock
Option
1994 (ISO) $10.5363 02/22/2004 Common 1152 D
Stock Stock
Option
2001 (ISO) $16.0124 01/23/2011 Common 6244 D
Stock Stock
Option
2001 (NQ) $16.0124 01/23/2011 Common 4256 D
Stock Stock
Option
2002 (ISO) $17.2 01/17/2012 Common 5813 D
Stock Stock
Option
2002 (NQ) $17.2 01/17/2012 Common 4187 D
Stock Stock
Option
2003 (ISO) $16.58 01/22/2013 Common 6031 D
Stock Stock
Option
2003 (NQ) $16.58 01/22/2013 Common 3969 D
Stock Stock
Option
Explanation of Responses:
Vesting of Restricted Stock Award
SIGNATURE OF REPORTING PERSON
/s/ Terri J. Ziepfel
DATE
01/28/2003