John Sheppard, former Seneca County Manager, was sentenced to three years of probation on Wednesday in Village Court. Sheppard was found guilty of official misconduct by a six-member village jury for disciplining Seneca County Emergency Management Director Melissa Taylor improperly after a five-day trial that ended on September 26th, 2022.
Seneca County District Attorney Mark Sinkiewicz asked Village Justice Conrad Struzik to sentence Sheppard to probation, 120 hours of community service, and pay restitution to Taylor. Sheppard’s attorney, James Doyle of Rochester, asked for a conditional discharge only.
Struzik sentenced Sheppard to three years of probation to be served in Ontario County, where Sheppard now lives in Victor. The possible penalties for official misconduct, a Class A misdemeanor, include probation, community service, conditional discharge, or up to a year in jail.
Doyle has stated that he plans to appeal the conviction and sentence.
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