SACRAMENTO, Calif. – As expected, former South Lake Tahoe Mayor Tamara Wallace changed her plea to guilty on wire fraud charges in U.S. District Court in Sacramento on Thursday before Chief U.S. District Judge Troy Nunley.
When asked by the judge if it was accurate that she was changing her plea, Wallace responded that it was “absolutely correct.” She agreed to all stipulations of the charges: that she acted with the intent to defraud, used an interstate wire scheme, knew she developed a scheme to defraud, and that all statements made to the court were accurate.
“I plead guilty,” Wallace responded.
“Are you entering a plea agreement because you are guilty?” asked Judge Nunley.
“I am,” responded Wallace.
She will be back in court on Jan. 14, 2027, to be sentenced. In the meantime, the court prepares pre-sentencing documents and collects other necessary facts. She faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, fines up to double the amount lost by the victim, forfeiture of any real property and must pay restitution between $380,000 and $500,000.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is recommending a lower sentence than the maximum, and that will be determined in January. Once sentenced, Wallace will have three years’ probation/supervised release and cannot violate any terms of release, or she will be sent back to prison for an additional two years.
In October 2025, Wallace hired criminal defense attorney and former judge Steven C. Bailey to represent her, and he was with her in court Thursday along with her husband Duane Wallace.
On October 13, 2026, Wallace was arraigned in federal court on charges that she embezzled $390,000 from the Lake Tahoe Community Presbyterian Church, which was her employer at the time. She entered an expected “not guilty” plea.
Thursday’s change in plea to “guilty” was also expected in the court process.
It has been just over one year since Wallace admitted to the theft in a letter to South Tahoe Now. As with financial crimes, the investigation takes months, or in some cases years, to thoroughly follow the cyber trail. The South Lake Tahoe Police Department, El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were all involved in the case.
District Attorney Vern Pierson said he was going after federal charges as he wanted Wallace, who was in a position of public trust and accused of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from a church, to face a consequence that should match the harm. He said California wouldn’t have held to that punishment.
“We are grateful to the United States Attorney’s Office and the FBI for taking this case, and we will continue to work closely with our federal partners so that cases that call for real accountability can be brought where real accountability is available,” said Pierson.
District Court on Thursday in Sacramento:
