Tennessee prosecutor admits to falsifying attendance records

JACKSON, Tenn. – A former federal prosecutor in Tennessee has pleaded guilty to falsifying work attendance records. She faces up to a year in prison.

The U.S. attorney’s office says 58-year-old Barbara Zoccola pleaded guilty on Thursday to a federal theft charge.

Zoccola acknowledged that she falsely reported working full eight-hour days on four days in October 2018. Zoccola failed to report nine hours of leave time taken on the same days. She also failed to report other leave time.

Prosecutors say the value of the unreported leave time was between $6,500 and $15,000.

Zoccola has resigned as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Western District of Tennessee in Memphis. She will be sentenced next year.

U.S. District Judge William L. Campbell Jr. of the Middle District of Tennessee presided because of Zoccola’s affiliation with the Memphis office.

___

This story has been edited to clarify that the falsely reported work time happened in October 2018, not this year.