Former lawyer admits to tampering charge in client theft case

The former law office of John David Moore, Jr.

By John Futty

John David Moore Jr., a former Columbus attorney accused of stealing from an elderly client, has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of tampering with records.

A former Columbus lawyer accused of stealing from an elderly client has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge in the case.

John David Moore Jr., 50, admitted to one count of tampering with records and was fined $250 by Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Dan Hawkins on Thursday.

Two felony theft counts and a felony tampering count were dismissed as part of a plea agreement with the county prosecutor’s office.

Moore, a graduate of Capital University Law School, surrendered his law license and retired from the practice of law, according to the judge’s sentencing entry.

He was indicted in August 2018, seven months after the Ohio Supreme Court’s disciplinary counsel filed a complaint accusing him of withdrawing $35,132 beginning in 2010 while overseeing the assets and nursing-home care of a man in a guardianship case. The complaint said Moore placed the money in his checking account and failed to provide a complete accounting of the funds in Franklin County Probate Court after the client died.

The theft charges accused Moore of stealing more than $7,500 from an elderly or disabled person. The counts of tampering with records accused him of falsifying, altering or destroying the guardian’s inventory and an affidavit in Probate Court.

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Former lawyer admits to tampering charge in client theft case