FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. — A Fayette County man faces more than 130 criminal charges after he allegedly stole checks from the Fayette County Public Defender’s office.
Tucker Lawhorn, 19, of Oak Hill was arrested Friday. He’s charged with 135 counts of Uttering, one count of computer fraud, and one count of fraudulent schemes.
Investigators say Lawhorn managed to gain entry to the office of the Public Defender through a family member who worked there. Deputies say he stole the checks and wrote them to himself over a period of three months from January through March. Deputies say the amounts of the checks were generally in the range of 200 dollars and he would mark an odd job in the memo line such as “snow removal.” Deputies say his scheme was aimed at making it appear he’d been paid for various services performed. The total money taken in the scame was over $20,000 according to Fayette County Sheriff Steve Kessler.
“Lawhorn had been employed intermittently on a part-time basis at the Public Defender’s Office to clean the offices, shovel snow and perform odd jobs,” said Kessler. “It is therefore not unusual that checks marked as payment for such services would be questioned until so many of them surfaced in a single month.”
The Chief Public Defender called the sheriff and contacted the prosecutor’s office after noticing the obviously fraudulent activity.
“The staff of the Public Defender Corporation has cooperated fully with this investigation, and I can confirm at this time that none of the attorneys employed by this corporation are suspected of any malfeasance or involvement in this criminal activity,” Kessler said.
Lawhorn was arraigned Friday before a Fayette County Magistrate and placed in the Southern Regional Jail in lieu of bond.