Ex-South Lake Tahoe Mayor Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud in Church Embezzlement Case

Former South Lake Tahoe mayor Tamara Le Ann Wallace pleaded guilty to wire fraud this week in federal court, in a case involving funds from Lake Tahoe Community Presbyterian Church. The case has shocked residents of the Sierra Nevada city.

Wallace, 56, had worked as a part-time bookkeeper for the church. According to the U.S. attorney’s office, she took funds from the church’s bank account for personal use, and the amount was so large that it nearly caused the organization to shut down. Entrusting a church’s finances to a bookkeeper is a matter of honest dealing (Proverbs 11:1).

Wallace faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a $25,000 fine. Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for January.

Prosecutors allege that Wallace embezzled about $390,000 from the church between April 2019 and September 2025. They say she spent some of the money on rent and travel expenses. She allegedly wrote reimbursement checks to herself for expenses she never incurred, made electronic transfers into accounts she controlled, and falsified financial entries to conceal her actions. According to prosecutors, the losses forced the church to scale back programming, take out loans, and pay late fees and interest on overdue bills.

Wallace’s attorney and the church did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Wallace resigned from public office in October 2025, soon after she confessed in a letter to the Tahoe Daily Tribune that she had taken funds from the church. She wrote that the admission was “the hardest thing I have ever had to do,” and said she had attempted suicide because of guilt and shame.

The case is not the first legal matter involving Wallace, according to El Dorado County court records. Federal Insurance Company, now a subsidiary of Chubb, sued her in 2006 and again in 2021. Records reviewed by the Los Angeles Times did not explain why she was sued in the earlier case, but they showed that the company had discovered a “theft of funds” in April 2006 and that Wallace agreed to repay $110,834. Under a promissory note, she was required to pay $200 a month. Court records show she allegedly fell behind, which prompted the second suit. In 2022, she agreed to make an initial payment of $2,500 by June 1, followed by $400 monthly until the debt was paid off.

Source: Read the original report