A 20-year employee of the Fayette County Public Defender Office and her son have been charged with stealing thousands of dollars from the office that represents low-income defendants charged with a crime.
Terri Lynn Lawhorn was fired from her position as a secretary with the office, after being charged Monday with embezzlement and forgery and uttering, according to a news release from the Fayette County Sheriff's Department.
Her son, Tucker Lawhorn, was charged last week with more than 100 felony counts of uttering, computer fraud and fraudulent schemes, another release from the sheriff's office states.
Tucker Lawhorn, 19, of Oak Hill, was arrested last Wednesday, following an investigation into the misappropriation of funds at the public defender office. The head of the office contacted the Fayette County sheriff and requested an independent investigation be conducted.
An initial investigation showed that between January and March, an employee of the office was allowing Tucker Lawhorn to enter the office after regular business hours.
The man allegedly wrote more than $20,000 worth of checks to himself during that time period. Most of the 130 checks he allegedly wrote were for no more than $200 and were recorded as being for things like "snow removal," the release states. Most of the checks were written in March.
Tucker Lawhorn had been employed intermittently on a part-time basis with the public defender office to clean offices, shovel snow and perform odd jobs, the release states.
"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," Fayette Sheriff Steve Kessler said in the release.
He is being held without bond at Southern Regional Jail. Terri Lynn Lawhorn was released after posting $10,000 bond on Monday.
According to the release, Terri Lynn Lawhorn had issued herself checks as advances to her salary. One her conduct was discovered, according to the release, she repaid the more than $8,000 in advances she had given herself.
"The staff of the Public Defender Corporation has cooperated fully with this investigation," said Fayette Prosecuting Attorney Larry Harrah in the release. "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."
Attorneys for the Lawhorns will have to come from outside the office, Harrah noted, "as the Public Defender Corporation is the victim in this case and is therefore unable to provide such legal representation."
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.