MORGANTOWN — A former Morgantown City Council member and WVU College of Law graduate is facing a host of charges in Virginia tied to a string of burglaries spanning several counties.
According to a Bedford Police Department press release, Ryan Wheeler Wallace was taken into custody without incident on Feb. 27 after a multi-agency investigation culminated in a search warrant for his residence.
The Dominion Post has confirmed this is the same Ryan Wallace who represented Morgantown’s 3rd Ward on Morgantown City Council for a single two-year term from July 2017 through June 2019.
Wallace graduated from the WVU College of Law in May 2018. While in school, he was named one of the top student leaders in the country by the National Jurist, which made him a finalist for its Law Student of the Year in 2018.
According to the press release, the Bedford Police Department began looking into a burglary at an area business that occurred in January.
The suspect captured by surveillance cameras appeared similar to an individual being sought for similar crimes in nearby Bedford and Botetourt counties.
Through the collaborative efforts of all three agencies, a suspect was identified.
In February, the Roanoke County Police Department took a report that a business in its jurisdiction had been burglarized. The same individual was captured by that business’s cameras.
Around this time, agencies in northern Virginia joined the investigation, as they had reports of similar crimes in their jurisdictions.
According to the release, Wallace is facing, “a number of felonies and misdemeanors related to these crimes, with the possibility of more charges to come.”
All told, nine agencies contributed to the investigation.
Wallace was 36 years old when he defeated incumbent Wes Nugent (1,579 – 975) to win a seat on Morgantown City Council in April 2017.
On March 22, 2019, just over a month ahead of the city’s April 30 election, Wallace abruptly announced that he did not intend to serve a second term as he and his family were moving to Toronto.
Based on city code at the time, it was too late to remove his name from the ballot. Come Election Day, enough voters were aware of the situation that one of the write-in candidates, Zack Cruz, was elected.
Once in Canada, Wallace opened his own law firm, Wallace Legal. Since closed, that firm is currently under the trusteeship of the Superior Court of Justice and under investigation by Canadian authorities.
According to information provided to The Dominion Post, Wallace cut ties with his family and left Canada on his own in March 2024.
