Gloria “Gay” Uzzell
by Teresa Eubanks, Journal Editor
If she resigns as Liberty County School Superintendent and follows the other terms of her agreement with the state attorney’s office, Gloria “Gay” Uzzell, 51, won’t have to worry about going to trial.
She was removed from office July 17 following her arrest on charges of grand theft, official misconduct and failure to disclose information in a public records request. Uzzell failed to consult the school board when she had a credit card issued to her office and ran up charges of over $12,000, topping the card’s limit by $2,000. Questionable charges included many hotel stays, alcohol, meals, hair care and shopping sprees at women’s clothing stores.
“We use deferred prosecution on a lot of our third degree felonies,” said State Attorney Willie Meggs. The agreements are used for first-time offenders. If she complies with the terms of the arrangement for one year, the charges against her will be dropped.
The school superintendent signed a deferred prosecution agreement Monday which outlines eight conditions she must meet:
• Waive all rights to a speedy trial and agree not to raise the statute of limitations as a defense
• Resign immediately and agree not to seek re-election
• Do not work with the Liberty County Schools District in any capacity
• Do not have contact with witnesses in this case, which includes personal, oral, written, electronic messages or contact through a third party
• Do not post any comments about the case on any social media, electronic or print sites for the duration of the agreement.
• Pay $500 for the cost of the investigation conducted by the state attorney’s office
• Refrain from violating any local, state or federal law
• Immediately notify the state attorney’s office of any change of address or employment
The conditions of the agreement may be revoked or modified at any time by the state attorney’s office. Changes could include the time frame of the period of deferred prosecution, the addition of more conditions and prosecution if any conditions are violated.