In sharp contrast, last week, a St. Augustine, Florida Police Department communications supervisor, LAUREN BOLANTE, was charged with similar theft.
But our State's Attorney, RALPH JOSEPH LARIZZA, has not recused himself and his staff dismissed two of three charges. Outrageous. LARIZZA, who is running for re-election in 2020, refuses to adhere to the National District Attorneys Association National Prosecution Standards, refuses to distribute it to 82 attorneys in four counties, and refuses to engage me in a discussion, or even answer why?
Wonder why?
As Thomas Jefferson said, "A public office is a public trust."
People have low expectations of ethics here in Sr. Johns County, where the criminal injustice system is presided over by louche lackeys like State's Attorney RALPH JOSEPH LARIZZA and
Sheriff DAVID SHOAR, who legally changed his name from "HOAR" in 1994.
Their coverups, like the Michelle O'Connell and Eli Washtock homicides, are a national scandal reported in The New York Times and PBS Frontline, among other outlets.
We need the U.S. Attorney, FBI and Justice Department Public Integrity Division here. Now.
From the U.S. Department of Justice website:
Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Middle District of Tennessee
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, November 21, 2019
Former Assistant United States Attorney Pleads Guilty To Federal Theft Charge
JACKSON, Tenn. – November 21, 2019 – Barbara Zoccola, 58, of Memphis, Tennessee, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to a federal theft charge, announced U.S. Attorney Don Cochran for the Middle District of Tennessee. Zoccola was charged in a criminal Information filed on October 9, 2019, which resulted from an investigation by the Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General into Zoccola’s time and attendance records.
Today, Zoccola entered into a plea agreement, in which she admitted to the conduct alleged in the single-count Information – that on October 25, 2018, she certified her time and attendance records for the pay period, falsely reporting that she had worked full 8-hour days on four specific days. Zoccola failed to report nine hours of leave time that she had taken on the same days. Zoccola also admitted that between June 2018 and June 2019, she submitted additional certifications in which she failed to report other leave time, which allowed her to accrue additional leave time that she was not entitled to. Zoccola admitted that the value of the unreported leave time was between $6,500 and $15,000.
The plea agreement required Zoccola to resign her position as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and to pay $10,000 in restitution to the Department of Justice. She also faces up to one year in prison when she is sentenced next year.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brent A. Hannafan and Chris Suedekum of the Middle District of Tennessee. U.S. District Judge William L. Campbell, Jr., of the Middle District of Tennessee, sitting by special designation, conducted the proceedings in the Jackson Branch of the Western District of Tennessee.
# # # # #
From the Jackson Sun and Memphis Commercial Appeal (GANNETT newspapers)
From the Jackson Sun and Memphis Commercial Appeal (GANNETT newspapers)
A former assistant U.S. attorney pleaded guilty Thursday to stealing more than $6,500 from the federal government by falsifying her time cards.
Barbara Zoccola, 58, of Memphis admitted she intentionally misreported her time at work on several occasions between June 12, 2018 and June 11, 2019. Her charges state Zoccola failed to report 9 hours of leave time she took on Oct. 16, 18, 23 and 25 of 2018, just one example of multiple falsified certifications.
The leave time she illegally accrued is valued between $6,500 and $15,000.
As part of her plea deal, Zoccola resigned from her position and will pay $10,000 in restitution. She faces up to one year in prison with up to one year of supervised release, and may be fined up to $100,000.
Lawn maintenance fraud: Former City of Memphis employee indicted in lawn maintenance fraud scheme
The Department of Justice filed charges against Zoccola in October after the Office of Inspector General investigated her time and attendance records. District Court Judge William L. Campbell, Jr. of the Middle District of Tennessee presided over the "unorthodox" hearing in Jackson Thursday due to Zoccola's connections to federal prosecutors in Memphis, he said.
Zoccola served as an assistant United States attorney for the Western District of Tennessee coordinating its financial litigation unit since 1991, according to her resume. She received an award for outstanding work in the unit in 2013. She is also a past president of the Memphis Bar Association and Memphis Bar Foundation.
She began her second three-year term as president of the Tennessee Board of Law Examiners on January 1, 2017. Her term was meant to end on Dec. 31, but a representative said Thursday that the board's current president is William Harbison, who formerly served as vice president under Zoccola. The representative could not confirm if or when Zoccola resigned her position.
Zoccola's involvement in the Tennessee legal community stretches back decades, including terms of service as president of the Association for Women Attorneys and the Tennessee Lawyers Association for Women. She's received mutliple legal accolades over her career, which specialized in bankruptcy law. She is also known for her support of a Memphis Youth Court in the mid-1990s and her appearance as a proctor for the bar exam in the 1993 film, "The Firm."
Zoccola appeared in court with casts covering both of her feet, extending up to her knees. She sat at the defense council's table for the duration of the hearing, with a yellow legal pad resting on the table in front of her. She kept her hands folded in her lap, and kept her answers to Campbell's questions short.
Zoccola's attorney Leslie Ballin said she preferred to be sentenced in Jackson so she would not have to face her former colleagues in Memphis.
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"It goes without saying she is totally embarrassed by her conduct," Ballin told Campbell.
Ballin declined further comment.
Zoccola will return to Jackson to be sentenced on March 5 at 10:30 a.m.
Reach Cassandra Stephenson at ckstephens@jacksonsun.com or at (731) 694-7261.
Updated November 21, 2019
She’s spent her career and time on powerful boards (like the Tennessee Board of Law Examiners) judging others on their integrity all while stealings from taxpayers. She’s a faux feminist and a liar and a thief. The public needs protection from people like Barbara. There’s a lot of corruption in the state of Tennessee. Let’s see if her friends on the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility disbar her. Tennessee is a good ol’ boy state to the core. She’s evil on the inside.
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