HUNTINGTON – A longtime office manager of a Huntington law firm has been sentenced for embezzling more than $600,000 from the firm.
Todd M. Chapman, 58, was sentenced February 26 to four years and three months in prison followed by five years of supervised release. U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers also ordered Chapman to pay $602,362.97 in restitution.
According to a release from U.S. Attorney Moore Capito, Chapman admitted to embezzling funds from a now-defunct Huntington law firm while he was employed at their office manager. The money he embezzled was from client trust accounts and proceeds from a Paycheck Protection Plan loan authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.
Chapman, who pleaded guilty in August, was office manager at Tyson & Tyson Law for about 30 years until April 2022. During this time, Chapman was authorized to write checks from the firm’s bank accounts for legitimate business expenses
Court documents show the embezzling began in 2016, when Chapman wrote himself unauthorized checks from the firm’s operating accounts and client trust accounts. he also admitted that he forged signatures on checks, created false documents, made false statements under oath and made false statements to federal law enforcement agents who were investigating the loss of client funds at the firm.
In 2022, Chapman ceased working at the law firm.
According to the release, Chapman embezzled at $409,000 from the estates of three deceased firm clients, $100,000 that one minor client was supposed to receive upon turning 18, and $15,838.84 of an initial $20,000 settlement deposit for another minor client who suffered an injury as an infant.
He embezzled $13,686.21 from a $20,375 PPP loan, which the firm had received to provide emergency financial aid during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The court concluded that Chapman’s crime was despicable and cold-hearted,” U.S. Attorney Moore Capito said. “People who needed help, including injured children, put their trust in this law firm and Todd Chapman shattered that trust. He accomplished this by betraying the trust that the law firm place in him.
“My office and our law enforcement partners will never tolerate such attempts to prey upon the public or threaten its trust in our legal institutions.”
As part of his guilty plea, Chapman admitted he carried out his scheme by using the trust he gained from his 30-year tenure with the firm to obtain complete and exclusive control of its day-to-day finances.
He embezzled at least $409,000 from the estates of three deceased firm clients, $100,000 that one minor client was supposed to receive upon turning 18, and $15,838.84 of an initial $20,000 settlement deposit for another minor client who suffered an injury as an infant. Chapman also embezzled $13,686.21 from a $20,375 PPP loan the firm legitimately received to provide emergency financial aid during the COVID-19 pandemic. He admitted he spent the embezzled funds for his personal enjoyment and lifestyle.
Chapman is mentioned a few times in court documents from 2022 when attorney David R. Tyson was disbarred for billing more than 24 hours in a day multiple times as a public defender.
Capito made the announcement of Chapman’s sentencing Thursday and commended the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Cabell County Sheriff's Office, and since-retired Southern District of West Virginia Litigation Financial Analyst Steve Rowley
Assistant United States Attorneys Erik S. Goes and Kathleen Robeson and former Assistant United States Attorney Andrew J. Tessman prosecuted the case.
Southern District of West Virginia case number 3:25-cr-121
