Former Loudoun Sheriff's Deputy Indicted for Embezzlement

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A former Loudoun County sheriff’s deputy is facing federal criminal charges that he embezzled more than $200,000 from an asset forfeiture fund maintained by the sheriff’s office.

Frank Michael Pearson, 44, was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday on four counts of theft concerning programs receiving federal benefits, according to Dana Boente, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Pearson, a Winchester resident, is scheduled to be arraigned July 24 before Judge T.S. Ellis III in the U.S. District Court in Alexandria.

If convicted, Pearson faces up to 10 years in prison on each count, Boente’s office said in a statement. The FBI and the Virginia State Police investigated the case with the cooperation of the sheriff’s office.

In his duties as a sheriff’s deputy, Pearson oversaw Loudoun’s asset forfeiture program. The indictment alleges that over three years, he “embarked on a scheme to embezzle and steal money totaling in excess of $200,000, which had been entrusted to him in connection with the program,” according to the statement.

Pearson concealed his embezzlement scheme by misleading coworkers and others “about the timing and fact of whether he had deposited seized money” into an escrow account at a local bank, the statement added.