Jeremy VanNostrand did not work for the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have an impact there.

Sheriff Richard Giardino knew VanNostrand well and officiated his wedding. But their relationship goes back to when the trooper was still a student at Mayfield High School.

"He was on a mock trial team, and when I was a county judge, he appeared in front of me and in one of the more memorable high school mock trial competitions, he fainted. I don’t know if he didn’t eat or was sick, but he fainted. They had to get the ambulance and bring him so everybody remembers the trial,” says Sheriff Giardino.

Giardino would go on to be VanNostrand’s professor at Fulton Montgomery Community College, teaching him criminal and constitutional law. VanNostrand was a correction officer for eight years before changing career paths and becoming a trooper. Giardino was one of his job references when he applied to the state police.

“Very professional, quiet guy unless you knew him. Dry sense of humor. He had a crooked smile when he would pick on you or bust chops or something funny; he would just give a little smirk,” says Giardino. 

The sheriff describes VanNostrand as “steady,” saying the man he met years ago is the same person he continued to be.