1. Name and Address of Reporting Person
Pontius, Stanley N.
8 Churchill Street
Hamilton, OH 45013
2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol
First Financial Bancorp (FFBC)
3. IRS or Social Security Number of Reporting Person (Voluntary)
308-48-1245
4. Statement for Month/Year
10/2002
5. If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Day/Year)
6. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable)
(X) 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- |3. Trans- |4. Securities Acquired (A) |5. Amount of |6. Owner- |7. Nature |
| | action | action | or Disposed of (D) | Securities | ship | of In- |
| | Date | Code | | Beneficially | Form: | direct |
| | | | | Owned at | Direct | Bene- |
| | (Month/ | | | End of | (D) or | ficial |
| | Day/ +-------+-----+-----------+------+----------+ Month | Indirect| Owner- |
| | Year) |Code |V |Amount |A/D |Price | | (I) | ship |
+---------------------------------+----------+-------+-----+-----------+------+----------+----------------+-----------+------------+
Common Stock 57949 D
Common Stock 7731 I IRA
Common Stock 13739.4175 I 401-k
Common Stock 0 I Son
Common Stock 55571 I Restricted
Award
Common Stock 345 I Daughter
FFBC (Directors Fee Stock Plan) 10/07/2002 P 140 A $18.2500 2102 D
TABLE II -- Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
+-------------+--------+----------+---------+-----------+---------------------+----------------+----------+--------+-------+-------+
|1. |2. |3. |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- | | |Number of | |Securities | |ities |Secur- |of |
| |sion or | | |Derivative |Date Exercisable +-------+--------+ |Benefi- |ity: |In- |
| |Exercise| | |Securities |and Expiration Date | |Amount | |cially |Direct |direct |
| |Price of|Transac- |Transac- |Acquired(A)|(Month/Day/Year) | |or | |Owned |(D) or |Bene- |
|Title of |Deriv- |tion Date |tion Code|Disposed(D)+----------+----------+ |Number |Price of |at End |In- |ficial |
|Derivative |ative |(Month/ +------+--+-----+-----+Date Exer-|Expira- | |of |Derivative|of |direct |Owner- |
|Security |Security|Day/Year) |Code |V |(A) |(D) |cisable |tion Date |Title |Shares |Security |Month |(I) |ship |
+-------------+--------+----------+------+--+-----+-----+----------+----------+-------+--------+----------+--------+-------+-------+
1996 (ISO) $11.2987 01/24/2006 Common 2497 D
Stock Option Stock
1997 (ISO) $11.1342 01/28/2007 Common 8981 D
Stock Option Stock
1997 (NQ) $11.1342 01/28/2007 Common 11649 D
Stock Option Stock
1998 (ISO) $19.087 01/27/2008 Common 5238 D
Stock Option Stock
1998 (NQ) $19.087 01/27/2008 Common 25255 D
Stock Option Stock
1999 (ISO) $22.565 01/25/2009 Common 4201 D
Stock Option Stock
1999 (NQ) $22.565 01/25/2009 Common 41999 D
Stock Option Stock
2000 (ISO) $17.56 01/24/2010 Common 5694 D
Stock Option Stock
2000 (NQ) $17.56 01/24/2010 Common 58356 D
Stock Option Stock
2001 (ISO) $16.0124 01/23/2011 Common 6244 D
Stock Option Stock
2001 (NQ) $16.0124 01/23/2011 Common 4256 D
Stock Option Stock
2002 (ISO) $17.2 01/17/2012 Common 5813 D
Stock Option Stock
2002 (NQ) $17.2 01/17/2012 Common 4187 D
Stock Option Stock
Explanation of Responses:
SIGNATURE OF REPORTING PERSON
/s/ Terri J. Ziepfel
DATE
10/07/2002