Jerry Mezzatesta is an American

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

politician, who has represented the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

. He was the

West Virginia House of Delegates The West Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the West Virginia Legislature. Only three states—Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia—refer to their lower house as the House of Delegates. Organization Regular sessions begin with ...

member from the 50th District which represents Mineral County and Hampshire County in West Virginia's

Eastern Panhandle The Eastern Panhandle is the eastern of the two panhandles in the U.S. state of West Virginia; the other is the Northern Panhandle. It is a small stretch of territory in the northeast of the state, bordering Maryland and Virginia. Some sources a ...

. ''

The Charleston Gazette The ''Charleston Gazette-Mail'' is the only daily morning newspaper in Charleston, West Virginia. It is the product of a July 2015 merger between ''The Charleston Gazette'' and the ''Charleston Daily Mail''. The paper is one of nine owned by HD ...

'' called him "one of West Virginia's most powerful politicians". In 2004, Mezzatesta and his wife, Mary Lou, pleaded

no contest ' is a legal term that comes from the Latin phrase for "I do not wish to contend". It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. In criminal Trial (law), trials in certain United States jurisdictions, it is a plea where the def ...

to a misdemeanor charge that they altered and destroyed legislative computer records. Mezzatesta lost his re-election bid that same year to Ruth Rowan. In April 2005, he was fired from his $60,000-a-year job with the Hampshire County Board of Education. In 2005, the West Virginia Ethics Commission found that Mezzatesta had violated an agreement to not use his legislative position to solicit funds for the county's school system. They subsequently fined him $2000. In September 2006, a federal grand jury indicted him and former Hampshire County Schools Superintendent David Friend on two counts of fraud and misappropriation of funds. However, on March 30, 2007, Mezzatesta and Friend were acquitted. On April 23, 2009, Judge C. Reeves Taylor ruled that Mezzatesta should get his job back in the Hampshire County school system. Clearing him of the alleged ethics violations, Judge Taylor wrote that ''"from the record there was no agreement between the Ethics Commission and Mezzatesta at the time held the position (as a school board employee), merely a request made by him to the commission and an advisory opinion made by (the Ethics Commission) and conveyed to (Mezzatesta)."'' The school board paid Mezzatesta a $192,000 settlement in lieu of rehiring him.

References

Schoolteachers from West Virginia Education in Hampshire County, West Virginia Living people Democratic Party members of the West Virginia House of Delegates People from Romney, West Virginia 1946 births {{WestVirginia-politician-stub