Former Farm Bureau lawyer gets 15 years

A former Virginia Farm Bureau lawyer will spend 15 years in prison for stealing at least $2 million from the organization from 1996 through last summer.

Judge Timothy K. Sanner yesterday sentenced Lawrence H. Bidwell in Goochland County Circuit Court to 30 years in prison but suspended half of that term, said Goochland Commonwealth's Attorney Claiborne Stokes.

Sanner also ordered Bidwell to pay $2,103,737 in restitution.

Bidwell, 49, of the Farmville area, pleaded guilty Nov. 14 to five embezzlement charges and a forgery count. Authorities say Bidwell had been stealing money since 1996, a pattern that was discovered in August.

In 1996, the Farm Bureau had learned Bidwell had been disbarred in Tennessee, where he earned his law degree, Stokes has said.

In April of that year, the bureau received a letter on Virginia State Bar stationery stating that Bidwell was an attorney in good standing, Stokes said. The state bar confirmed a few months ago that the letter is a forgery.

Employees at the bureau became suspicious in August of a $30,000 claims check that had gone into Bidwell's account, Stokes has said.

Bidwell admitted to a gambling problem during a previous court appearance, records show.

Contact Reed Williams at (804) 649-6332 or .