SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Former mayor Tamara Wallace pleaded guilty to one count of felony wire fraud Thursday morning at her change of plea hearing in Sacramento. Wallace faces up to 20 years in prison for embezzling nearly $390,000 from a church in South Lake Tahoe.
She remains out of custody. Her sentencing hearing will be on Jan. 14, 2027 at 9:30 a.m.
At her Oct. 13 arraignment, Wallace initially entered a standard not guilty plea to preserve her rights and allow her lawyers to review evidence collected by the prosecution. As of Thursday morning, she is irrevocably considered guilty by the court.
In court, Wallace sat next to her husband Duane before being called to the podium by Chief Judge Troy L. Nunley. The judge’s first question was whether she intended to plead guilty.
Wallace replied: “That is absolutely correct.”
As a part of the guilty plea, the U.S. Attorney Nicholas Fogg said the prosecution will recommend sentencing Wallace to the lowest amount of prison time in the applicable, and Wallace will pay restitution of roughly $388,000. She will also pay a fine of either $250,000 or twice her monetary gain or loss.
Judge Nunley will determine her sentence based on federal statutes and sentencing guidelines. The maximum amount of prison time for her charge is 20 years, and the court has not yet determined the minimum. Federal crimes do not allow the possibility of parole.
Wallace and her lawyer will be able to review a pre-sentencing report before the hearing in January.
At the sentencing hearing, victims of the crime are able to give testimony about the damage the defendant caused due to the crime. It is unclear who, if anyone, will speak at Wallace’s sentencing.
In response to further questions from the judge, Wallace confirmed her history of mental illness — which she previously detailed in a letter published in The Tribune confessing to the embezzlement. She said she takes prescription medication for it but the prescription doesn’t impact her ability to understand the hearing or plea.
Wallace said she is currently working in the pet grooming industry at a local pet store. She confirmed her name, date of birth and highest level of education as an Associate of Arts degree.
Wallace fidgeted with her hands while waiting for the court to be called in session and, during the initial hearing of the session, she closed her eyes while the judge described that defendant’s distribution of child sexual abuse material.
When asked for comment after the trial, she directed all questions to be sent to her lawyer.
According to her indictment, Wallace wrote herself checks while she was Lake Tahoe Community Presbyterian Church’s bookkeeper which totaled $360,000 and completed unauthorized electronic transfers which totaled $31,000 from April 2019 until September 2025.
In the church’s records, she disguised the checks as reimbursements for charges that she had never paid out of her personal accounts, the indictment says. The U.S. attorney used the example of on Sept. 5, 2025 Wallace wrote herself a check for $7,500 with the only note on the memo being “Reimb.”
The church gave Wallace leeway with the expenses, the indictment says, but she was never authorized to use funds for personal expenses. The indictment says Wallace was a signatory on the church’s accounts and that she was the only person with access to the church’s digital financial records for most of her time as its bookkeeper.
Wallace used the funds for travel and to pay rent on her home, the indictment says.
The church nearly had to close down because of the financial losses resulting from Wallace’s fraud, according to the indictment. It says the church incurred late fees and interest on overdue bills and was forced to take out several loans to stay afloat.
As outlined by the U.S. attorney at her change of plea hearing, the essential elements of Wallace’s case are:
- She knowingly and intentionally participated in a scheme to defraud someone of money;
- Her scheme included a statement or omission that a capacity to influence people into parting with their money;
- She acted with the specific intent to deceive;
- She used interstate wire communications in order to carry out the scheme.
