State of Connecticut Board of Pardons and Paroles

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Current Board Members

 

Carleton J. Giles

Chairperson

Chairperson Giles was appointed to the Board of Pardons and Paroles as a Full-time Board Member in September 2013 and subsequently appointed as Chairperson in May 2014.  He is a retired police officer who served 33 years with the Norwalk Department of Police Service, spending several years assigned to the department’s youth division where he was responsible for investigating improper conduct and criminal activity against children.   

During his distinguished career in law enforcement, Chair Giles was actively involved with the city’s youth, both through his work with the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program and as a Certified School Resource Officer.  Officer Giles’ work focused on preventing juvenile delinquency by promoting positive relations between youth and police through law enforcement, education and counseling.  Chair Giles is a graduate of the Suffolk County, New York Police Academy and the Connecticut Municipal Police Officer Training Academy.  He is also a former Chairman of the City of Milford’s Police Commission.

 

Rufaro Berry

Full-Time Board Member

Ms. Berry was appointed to the Connecticut Board Of Pardons and Paroles as a Full-time Board Member in October 2014.  She was previously employed as a paralegal at Bershtein, Bershtein and Bershtein for 15 years assisting with firm’s partners and interviewing clients.  

Ms. Berry graduated Magna Cum Laude from Albertus Magnus College in 2009 with a degree in Criminal Justice, Sociology and Business Management.   Ms. Berry is passionate about justice prevailing and is honored to serve as a member of the Parole Board. 

 

Patricia Thomas Camp

Full-Time Board Member

Ms. Thomas Camp was appointed to the Connecticut Board of Pardons & Paroles as a Full-time Board Member in 2016.  Her varied educational and career experiences prepared her for her service on the Board beginning as a Part-time member in October 2014.  Ms. Thomas Camp began her career as a public school teacher and has continued to teach throughout her life.  She holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Rice University and a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Houston.  After graduating from the University of Chicago Law School, she served as Executive Director of the Cook County Bar Association’s Legal Aid & Pro Bono program.  This program provided free legal representation to residents of 135 municipalities - including Chicago. 
 
Ms. Thomas Camp practiced law for 19 years, including criminal, family and corporate law and also served as a Juvenile Court Magistrate.  She has represented children in the custody of the State, youth charged with offenses including murder, as well as adults and she heard cases on the abuse, neglect and dependency docket in juvenile court.  Upon moving to Connecticut, Ms. Thomas Camp intended to retire, but found herself temperamentally unsuited for retirement.  She resumed teaching and is providing leadership to various community organizations.  Her work in Connecticut has focused on the homeless, legal services and the concerns of the City of Hartford’s North End. 
 
 
Joy Chance

Full-Time Board Member

Ms. Chance was appointed to the Connecticut Board of Pardons & Paroles as a Full-time Board Member in October 2014.  Ms. Chance came to the Board with more than 16 years of supervisory experience evaluating parolees for appropriate placement in a parole supervised program.  She most recently worked as a Therapist with The Connection, Inc., where she counseled and assisted parolees in maintaining parole compliance.  Prior to this position, Ms. Chance served as Director of Employment, Education and Training for both staff and parolees at Open Hearth Association in Hartford, CT.   

Ms. Chance began her work in social services as a Program Supervisor at the Open Hearth Association and was responsible for the direct supervision for approximately 50 residents on parole, probation, pre-trial status, as well as Department of Correction inmates who were receiving a variety of services and work release opportunities.  

Ms. Chance holds a Master's of Education Degree with a Minor in Psychology from Cambridge College.  

 

Stephen D. Dargan

Full-Time Board Member

Mr. Dargan was appointed to the Connecticut Board of Pardons and Paroles as a Full-time Board Member in 2017.  Prior to his appointment to the Board, Mr. Dargan served as a State Representative for the Connecticut General Assembly’s 115th Assembly District of West Haven, having held that office from 1991 to 2017.  For 22 years, he held the position of House Chairman of the Public Safety and Security Committee, which has cognizance of all matters relating to the state police, municipal police training, fire marshals, civil preparedness and homeland security.

From 1980 to 2004, Mr. Dargan served as Fire Commissioner for the City of West Haven and was also a member of the West Haven City Council from 1985 to 1991.   

 

Michael Pohl

Full-Time Board Member

Mr. Pohl was appointed to the Connecticut Board of Pardons and Paroles as a Full Time Member in May 2019.  Prior to his appointment to the Board, as a certified teacher, he taught 8th grade United States History at Illing Middle School in Manchester from 2009 to 2019. Mr. Pohl earned degrees at Manchester Community College, Charter Oak College and also performed graduate work at Eastern Connecticut State University.

Mr. Pohl was appointed in 1986 to the Connecticut Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission (CADAC) by Governor William A. O’Neill due to his experience and knowledge in the prevention and treatment of alcohol addiction.  While a CADAC Commissioner, Mr. Pohl interacted with many community based treatment programs, as well as, many Connecticut Department of Correction Addiction Services programs. Mr. Pohl is the Executive Director of Pathfinders Association in Manchester where he began his own personal recovery from alcoholism and addiction in 1984. For the past 35 years, Mr. Pohl has worked with many people seeking recovery, in most recent years with people recovering from opioid addiction.  Mr. Pohl has also been a Justice of the Peace for the past 25 years.

 

Carmen Sierra

Full-Time Board Member

Ms. Sierra was appointed to the Connecticut Board of Pardons & Paroles as a Full-time Board Member in February 2016.  Prior to her appointment, Ms. Sierra worked for the State of Connecticut Judicial Branch's Office of Victim Services in the position of Victim Services Advocate.  Ms. Sierra comes to the Board with over 18 years of service to victims of crime in Connecticut.

Ms. Sierra has assisted many victims and families by providing information and informing them of their rights and determining the appropriate referrals for their needs.  She was the first ever Victim Services Advocate assigned to the Board of Pardons and Paroles in 2008.  After six years at the Board, Ms. Sierra transferred back to the court system and now brings her knowledge of the Criminal Justice System and victim's rights in her position on the Board.  She has received diplomas from the Stratford Career Institute in Psychology/Social Work, Private Investigation and Funeral Service Education.

 

Nancy Turner

Full-Time Board Member

Ms. Turner was appointed to the Connecticut Board of Pardons and Paroles as a Full-time Board Member in 2017.  Prior to joining the Board, she coordinated a statewide effort to address the needs of substance-exposed infants and their families at Advanced Behavioral Health, Inc., and served as the Director of Offender Risk Reduction for the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence (CCADV) where she also chaired the Connecticut Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee.

Previously, Ms. Turner worked in Washington, D.C. for the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) as a Senior Program Manager.  During her fourteen years with the IACP, she managed a series of Federal grants to set standards and policy to guide police response to and investigation of various crimes including homicide, stalking, human trafficking, sexual assault and gun violence.  In addition, Ms. Turner developed and delivered leadership training programs for major city, state, rural and campus law enforcement executives.
 
Ms. Turner taught on the faculty of The George Washington University from 1990 to 2005 and previously lobbied Congress for the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.  She earned a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Connecticut and a Master's Degree from The George Washington University.

 

Jennifer Zaccagnini

Full-Time Board Member

Ms. Zaccagnini was appointed to the Connecticut Board of Pardons & Paroles as a Full-time Board Member in 2014.  Ms. Zaccagnini ’s experience and education prepared her for her initial appointment to the Board of Pardons and Paroles as a Part-time Board Member in 2008.  She holds a Bachelor's in Sociology from Central Connecticut State University and a Master's in Criminal Justice from the University of New Haven.  Ms. Zaccagnini began her career in Social Services as a Residential Monitor and Treatment Social Worker with the Alternative Incarceration Center (AIC) in Waterbury, CT and was responsible for the direct supervision of approximately 40 residents who were on pre-trial, probationary or parole status and receiving services and work release opportunities while residing in the facility. 

Ms. Zaccagnini also worked as an Investigative Social Worker and Social Work Supervisor with the Department of Children and Families (DCF) in Torrington, CT.  At DCF, her primary focus was the protection of Connecticut’s children.  She was responsible for providing families with the necessary services and programs to maintain their family unit or to provide the tools for the successful reunification of families when possible.  In her role as Investigative Social Worker, she was the first to respond to allegations of child abuse and neglect and ultimately made the determination whether a child was at risk of harm and whether services were necessary for a family.  As a Social Work Supervisor, she supervised social workers in a treatment/training unit.

 

Pamela Richards
Part-Time Board Member

Ms. Richards was appointed to the Connecticut Board of Pardons and Paroles as a Part-time Board Member in 2008.  She began her career in 1981 with the Department of Correction as a Correction Officer after earning her B.A. in Criminal Justice from Ohio State University.  Ms. Richards was promoted through the ranks, to Correctional Treatment Officer, Correctional Psychiatric Treatment Worker, Counselor Supervisor, Deputy Warden and ultimately to the positions of Warden and Complex Warden overseeing up to six facilities.  Throughout her career, she has had the opportunity to work with both the male and female populations.  She has gained a broad range of experience in the fields of Corrections and Community Release, Mental Health Treatment as well as the Management of Gang Offenders, always keeping public safety her primary focus. 

Following her retirement from the Department of Correction, Ms. Richards was a Program Director at the North American Family Institute Stepping Stone program, a residential treatment facility for girls on parole ages 12-17. 

 
Kelly Smayda
Part-Time Board Member

Ms. Smayda was appointed to the Connecticut Board of Pardons & Paroles as a Part-time Board Member in 2008.  Ms. Smayda is a retired Deputy Warden from the Connecticut Department of Correction after having served over 20 years.  She held various positions having been promoted through the ranks during her career.  The majority of her time was spent in overseeing various institutional treatment programs for inmates which, she believes, is ultimately in the best interest of public safety.  Ms. Smayda was also responsible for reviewing and approving offendres for community release programming, including halfway house and inpatient treatment programs.  Her extensive and impressive background in Corrections and treatment programming has given her a greater understanding of an offender’s needs and the challenges they will face upon their re-release to the community. 

Ms. Smayda, having been a Dean’s list student, holds a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology with a Minor in Legal Studies from Roger Williams University in Rhode Island.