By Larry Judkins
Glenn County Observer
If law enforcement officers are held to a higher standard in our criminal justice system, then many Glenn County residents feel the system failed in the John Sanzone case.
Sanzone was a Glenn County Sheriff’s deputy from December of 2021 to September of 2022. According to the Glenn County District Attorney’s Office, while Sanzone was on duty, he encountered a homeless man and arrested him.
During the booking procedure, the homeless man had $3,500 in cash on his person, which he was saving to pay for badly needed dental work. Sanzone stole the money.
When the man tried to recover his money upon his release from custody, Sanzone ran interference with the evidence custodian and sheriff’s administration to keep the theft from being discovered by superiors. Sanzone went so far as to drive the homeless man to another county.
At some point after charges were filed against Sanzone, he repaid the $3,500. He also surrendered his peace officer certification, which means that Sanzone is banned from ever again being a peace officer in California.
In exchange, the felony theft charges against Sanzone were dismissed.
And this is what has a lot of people upset. Some of the responses to the district attorney’s press release on the D.A.’s own Facebook page include:
Pamela Willis-Nunez exclaimed, “… charges were dismissed. They were dismissed!!!
Corinne Green posted, “So a cop steals $3,500 and gets let off with no charges. Lol. Wow, only in Glenn County.”
In a later post, she added, “Just shows the actual level of corruption in this county when a cop steals from a homeless man and walks free.”
The D.A.’s Office responded, “He did not walk free. He will never be a peace officer in California in his lifetime because of the criminal investigation. Many criminals will just do jail time or pay a fine … not lose their jobs. This person lost his job and career.”
Corinne Green replied, “Losing his job is the least that should happen, not the only thing. He literally stole from a homeless man.”
Karen Ayers posted, “Oh, so he can find another job. Nice spin on it, though.”
Pamela Willis-Nunez also responded to the district attorney’s comment that Sanzone lost his job, “No, he threw it away! Let’s erase everyone’s records then. Shame on you.”
Dave Devane wrote, “So, if he moves to Oregon or another state, he can become a criminal cop again?
“When CDL [commercial driver’s license] holders break the law, everything is double. As being professionals, they should know better.
“Yet whenever a LEO [law enforcement officer] breaks the law, they get slapped on the wrist or patted on the back.”
Later, Karen Ayers said, “It’s no wonder people don’t report. Our system is a shit show! Ya, I said it!”
The responses to the D.A.’s press release on the Action News Now Facebook page were even more scathing and more numerous.
Perhaps the most interesting thing regarding this case in the Glenn County Superior Court records concerns two limine motions. A limine motion is one that is made to the court before a jury has been selected, asking the court to order the opposing party, its counsel, and witnesses not to talk about, or even mention, certain facts or evidence in the presence or hearing of the jury.
If the motion is granted, nobody is allowed to bring up those facts without first obtaining permission from the court, which must be requested outside the presence of the jury.
A person who violates a limine motion may be held in contempt of court. A violation may even result in dismissal of the party’s case.
In the Sanzone case, on March 7, 2025, the court was asked to (1) “exclude reference to Mr. Sanzone’s employment status”; and (2) “exclude reference and testimony of uncharged acts”.
Had the case gone to trial, the first limine motion would have prevented District Attorney Stewart and others from bringing up the fact that Sanzone’s employment as a Glenn County Sheriff’s deputy had been terminated.
The second motion would have prevented the D.A. and others from mentioning any of several acts involving Sanzone that are alleged to have happened when Sanzone was an Oroville police officer. The Butte County case or cases that refer to these claims were apparently settled out of court, but The Observer maintains a copy of one of them.
One paragraph is especially relevant:
“On July 5, 2021, SERGEANT SEARS was on duty when a citizen, who suffered with mental illness, came in to the police department to report that Sergeant Sanzone had stolen $1300 from the citizen during a recent arrest. The citizen said he had come in to report this theft multiple times, and he was told by one sergeant that the citizen could not make that type of complaint and was told to leave. SERGEANT SEARS looked up the police log history and saw that the ‘sergeant’ who told the citizen he could not make such a complaint was John Sanzone himself. On July 8, 2021 and again on July 9, 2021, the citizen came in to again report the theft of his money by John Sanzone…” (paragraph 39).
It must be emphasized that these allegations against Sanzone are just that: allegations. Sanzone was never convicted of anything in Butte County.
Some might suggest that while the members of the Glenn County District Attorney’s Office and the Glenn County Superior Court may have been reaching for a “higher standard” in the Sanzone case, they ended up shooting themselves in the foot.
The Glenn County Observer 