Former firefighter accused of embezzlement back in court

Oscar Picazo, the former Lodi Fire captain and treasurer of the Lodi Professional Firefighters Union accused of embezzling almost $300,000 from the union, made another appearance in court Friday morning.

According to San Joaquin County District Attorney Stephen Taylor, the case was continued to July 26 at 8:30 a.m. in Department 35 of the San Joaquin County Superior Court for entry of a plea or setting of a jury trial date.

“On July 26, if the case is not otherwise resolved, we will be asking that a jury trial date be set for an actual trial,” Taylor said.

Although Picazo has made payments back to the union at previous court appearances, no additional payment was made during Friday’s appearance.

Picazo paid $20,000 of the union’s missing funds in April. Prior to that, he paid $57,000 at a court appearance in February and another $73,000 when the union first began its investigation into the missing funds.

“We‘re in negotiations with the district attorney to resolve the case and will go back to court at the end of July,” Picazo’s attorney, Al Ellis, said following the proceedings Friday morning.

Ellis said he is optimistic that things will be resolved at the next court appearance.

The Lodi Professional Firefighters Union is also hopeful that the case will come to an end soon.

“It’s been a long process. I think the process is starting to come to an end hopefully soon for every party involved,” Lodi Fire Captain and union secretary Shane Langone said.

Even though Picazo did not pay the union back in full as expected during Friday’s court appearance, Langone said union members were surprised and grateful to receive the previous payments.

“I’m glad we got what we got back at this point,” Langone said. “I don’t know what the future holds. I don’t know if we’re going to get any more money back. If I was to guess I would probably say if we do, it’s probably going be very limited funds.”

Langone said the whole ordeal has been both positive and frustrating for the union.

“It’s kind of a double-edged sword. We are thankful that we have gotten money back, but we are frustrated due to the process because it’s long.”