Leland Chapman was born on December 14, 1976, in Groom, Texas, to La Fonda Sue Darnell and Duane Chapman, Sr. His parents divorced while he was very young leaving him and an older brother named Duane Lee Chapman, Jr. Leland to lead very different lives. Chapman spent the majority his tumultuous childhood in Pampa, Texas before moving to Colorado Springs, Colorado in his teen years. During his teens, Chapman ran away from home and got into the habit of skipping school which soon led him to become involved in a gang. At the age of 13, Leland was put in a boy’s group home when his mother could no longer handle him. This led to resentment toward his mother which strained an already struggling relationship.
Chapman was eventually offered a choice; he could go to live with his father or stay at the group home. He opted for his father’s home since he wanted to be with his father rather than complete strangers. He completed high school in 1995 and started training for mixed martial arts and boxing as he turned seventeen. The physical challenge gave him great joy and offered a way for him to focus his attention on something positive. But just when he felt he was beginning to reach success in martial arts he was forced to give up them up entirely in 2003 due to a knee injury that required surgery. After the surgery, his doctors told him that he could never fight again without risking losing his leg completely. He knew he would rather keep his leg and not fight than to fight for a short career and never be able to walk again so he chose to quit fighting altogether Leland is the only Chapman sibling to complete high school among the children that Duane Chapman fathered before meeting and eventually marrying Beth Smith. Chapman went on to have two more children with Smith and he even adopted her pre-teen daughter as his own.
While living with his father, Leland also went to work for him at Da Kine Bail Bonds, a company founded by his father. On September 14, 2006, Leland and his father Duane and co-worker Tim Chapman (no relation, though they have the same last name, and Duane Chapman often referred to Tim as his "brother" while they worked together.) were seized by the U.S.Marshals. They were charged with the "deprivation of liberty" of fugitive serial rapist Andrew Luster, whom they tracked to Mexico. Andrew Luster was hiding out in the country and trying to avoid being captured by law enforcement who wanted to bring him to justice. The men were working in the capacity of bondsmen when they captured him in Mexico and took him back to the U.S to face charges in June of 2003. The Mexican government arrested them at that time because they did not have the authority to practice bounty hunting in Mexico. Roughly this translates to they didn't grease the right palms in the local government. They were soon freed on bail and returned to the United States.
| Net Worth 2021: | 2 million |
