Rural Kentucky fire chief charged in alleged thefts from the department he headed

A rural Kentucky fire chief stole federal money that had been allocated to help the department he headed, a federal grand jury has charged.

Christopher Chapman, of Pike County, faces one charge of theft from a federal program. A grand jury indicted him Thursday.

The alleged theft took place between May 2022 and May 2023 while Chapman was chief of the Blackberry Volunteer Fire Department in Pike County.

He also had a company registered in West Virginia called Rural Public Safety Equipment, LLC.

The county received a total of $11.2 million from the federal government through the American Rescue Plan Act, according to the indictment. Congress approved that law in 2021 to help local governments maintain services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chapman applied for grants of federal money from the Pike County Fiscal Court for turnout gear for firefighters and for equipment and building maintenance, and the fiscal court approved a total of $50,000, according to the indictment.

The Blackberry department ordered equipment from the company Chapman had set up, but instead of using the payments to fill the orders, Chapman took cash from the accounts numerous times and used it for himself, the indictment charges.

The charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.