A Logan County Common Pleas Court jury took less than two hours to find Todd Lamb guilty on eights counts, two of which are first-degree felonies.
The jury of eight women and four men handed over the verdicts to Judge Kevin P. Braig around 5:25 p.m. after Lamb finally returned to the courthouse. The defendant took about 30 minutes to return after the jury announced it had reached a verdict.
Lamb, 51, stands convicted of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, a first-degree felony; theft from a person in a protected class, a first-degree felony; aggravate theft, a third-degree felony; grand theft, a third-degree felony; three counts grand theft, fourth-degree felonies; and defrauding creditors, a fourth-degree felony.
Judge Braig set sentencing for 10 a.m. Nov. 26 and ordered Lamb should be held at the Logan County Jail until then. Lamb faces more than 30 years in prison if given the maimum sentence on all counts.
Logan County Prosecutor Eric Stewart said he felt confident the jury would find Lamb guilty when the case was given to them at 3:25 p.m. “I felt our case was very strong,” he said. “I have to give a lot of credit and praise to Ohio BCI Special Agent Steven Seitzman who did a fantastic job of putting the case together.”
Seitzman was the key witness on the final day and he recounted how he worked through records to show how Lamb received money from clients and then spent it on real estate or used it as loans to himself, family and his business.
In all, prosecutors say Lamb took more than $930,000 from several customers and financial institutions. “But that does not include other losses,” Stewart said after the verdict. Three of the victims, Dean Anderson, Mike Evans and William Phelps, spent money on attorneys to pursue civil judgements against Lamb. It is money they’ll never recoup, Stewart noted.
Anderson stayed for the verdict and he said afterward, “After six long years justice has prevailed.”
