Attorney Steven Scudder, 62, Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud

DAYTON — Steven Scudder, 62, of Centerville, Ohio, admitted in federal court to using his law license as a weapon of deception, pleading guilty to wire fraud for his role in a crooked investment scheme that swindled over $1 million from a group of trusting investors.

Scudder served as trustee of the WMA Trust — a shell land trust tied to William Apostelos — between July 2013 and July 2014. Despite resigning mid-2014, Scudder admitted he kept pretending to be the trustee at Apostelos’ direction until September 2014, a lie that helped lure a 10-person investment group from another state into handing over more than $1 million.

Those funds, according to court documents, were never invested. Instead, Apostelos allegedly funneled the money to pay off earlier investors in a classic Ponzi shuffle while Scudder’s false credibility kept the scam afloat. The deception relied on Scudder’s status as a licensed attorney — a position meant to inspire trust, not exploit it.

The crime carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gain or loss, whichever is greater. U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Rose will set a sentencing date after a pre-sentence investigation is completed.

Benjamin C. Glassman, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, announced the plea alongside top federal investigators: Troy N. Stemen of IRS Criminal Investigation, Angela L. Byers of the FBI, Joseph Rivers of the Department of Labor’s EBSA, and James Vanderberg of the Labor Department’s Office of the Inspector General.

Prosecutors, including Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent G. Tabacchi and Deputy Criminal Chief Laura Clemmens, say the cooperation between IRS, FBI, and Labor Department agencies was instrumental in exposing the fraud. Scudder’s guilty plea marks a rare public fall for a legal professional once trusted to uphold the law — now facing its harshest consequences.