Embezzler gets 5-year term, must repay $350,000

NORFOLK

For five years, Theresa Leland stole from nearly every account her employer had.

As the office administrator for R. Wayne Nunnally’s law practice, she had access to everything, said prosecutor Richard Farley – escrow and operating accounts, a charitable scholarship fund Nunnally administered, payroll checks.

Without Nunnally’s knowledge, she opened a bank account in his name to siphon money.

She gave herself a $500-per-paycheck raise and collected it for three years.

Using Nunnally’s accounts, she financed her boyfriend’s business, paid her daughter’s college tuition, bought herself clothes from T.J. Maxx and Fashion Bug, subscribed to Cat Fancy magazine, and paid off credit cards and other bills.

Leland began working for Nunnally in the late 1980s.

The theft began in 2000, around the time Nunnally’s son died, Farley said.

During this time, Nunnally and his family had treated her like a daughter, Farley said.

Nunnally let her go in 2005 after discovering she had written checks to herself, including one for $4,000 she labeled as a bonus.

In October, Leland, 46, was convicted of three counts of embezzlement.

During her sentencing hearing Friday, Farley said, accountants and prosecutors had tallied Nunnally’s losses at nearly $351,000.

None of his clients’ funds were stolen, he said.

Leland’s attorney, Robert Morecock, argued that his client, a former drug addict with a high school education, had been given far more responsibility by Nunnally than she could handle.

She felt she deserved the raise, and paid her gas and credit cards from Nunnally’s accounts because she had used them to pay for office expenses, Morecock said.

They disputed Farley’s estimate of Nunnally’s losses.

Leland cried as she made a statement to Nunnally and the court.

“I took care of everything for him, from business matters to his personal needs, including his family’s,” Leland said. “I was left in charge of the business for a month at a time. I made some terrible mistakes and some bad decisions.”

She faced Nunnally. “I am truly sorry. I never meant to hurt you and Mrs. Nunnally.”

Circuit Judge Everett A. Martin Jr. sentenced Leland to five years in prison.

He imposed an additional 10-year sentence but suspended the time on condition she repay $350,000 to the Nunnallys in $100 monthly installments after her release.

He also ordered Leland to obtain a life insurance policy worth $350,000 payable to the Nunnallys.

Michelle Washington, (757) 446-2287, michelle.washington@pilotonline.com