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| Timothy Belcher/Justia |
Timothy Belcher, of Elkhorn City, was indicted (belcher federal indict) Thursday by a federal grand jury on seven counts of fraud and three of filing false tax returns in connection with the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars that should have gone to the heirs of a Pike County man killed in an accident two decades ago.
If convicted, Belcher faces 30 years on each of the seven fraud counts and three years on each tax fraud cases which stems from his failure to report the stolen money on his tax returns in 2013, 2014, and 2016, according to the indictments.
The charges are similar to state charges filed against Belcher in Pike County almost two years ago.
The family of Samuel Johnson hired Belcher, who at one time was city attorney for the city of Elkhorn City, following Johnson’s death in 2001. According to the indictment, Belcher obtained a large settlement for the family with half going to Johnson’s widow and the other half to be divided among Johnson’s children once it was determined whether he had two or three children.
That was in 2004.
Belcher put the money in an escrow account that contained as much as $817,155 on Dec. 31, 2007, court records claim. By the time the family had become frustrated and hired other attorneys to get to the bottom of what happened to the money, the account was down to $389 on Dec. 31, 2018.
When confronted in 2019 about the money, Belcher admitted he’d diverted it to his own use over the years, spending it on everything from mortgage payments to his cell phone bills, according to the indictment.
After he was indicted in Pike County, the state Supreme Court suspended Belcher’s license, according to state judicial records.
