The number of suspicious circumstances surrounding two Department of Transportation
building projects keeps growing.
The Albuquerque Journal reported this weekend on another tie between one of the defendants in the
Apparently, two commissioners – Johnny Cope of
That consultant was Michael Murphy, one of five defendants in the
Murphy acted as a right-hand man for former Court Administrator Toby Martinez, prosecutors allege. Read the indictment by clicking here. Prosecutors say the group bilked taxpayers out of a combined $4.2 million by inflating and falsifying invoices on the project. Three have pleaded guilty for their roles and five others, including
Prosecutors alleged in indicting Murphy several weeks ago that defendants tried to extend their scheme to a DOT project, but didn’t specify which project. Transportation Secretary Rhonda Faught says it was the district office in
Regardless, defendants in the metro court case had ties to both DOT projects. That and other circumstances have tainted the projects. Here’s what we know:
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• Murphy, at the suggestion of Cope and Franken, was given confidential bid documents in the spring of 2006 even though he never signed a contract to do work for DOT. When DOT learned later of Murphy’s alleged role in the metro court scandal, it asked for the documents back, but Murphy refused to return them.
Murphy, the Journal reported, is a contributor to Gov. Bill Richardson, having given $8,500 to his re-election campaign last year.
He’s not the only contributor whose ties to a DOT project have raised eyebrows. The bidder originally selected for the headquarters project was Gerald Peters, a longtime financial supporter of the governor who donated to and held a fundraiser for the governor’s presidential campaign while the negotiations were ongoing. Were
Peters has not been directly tied to the metro court defendants. You can read Peters’ comments about the project by clicking here.
Situation needs investigation, not damage control
The newest revelations mean
“This was premature… It was improper,” the Journal quoted her as saying.
She was also asked about the fact that Murphy later submitted a $2.2 million bid to oversee the headquarters redevelopment project – a contractor has not yet been selected – and said this:
“No way in hell would I hire him. Why would I hire someone who refused to give us proposals back?”
Richardson has also done some damage control, ordering two reviews of the DOT headquarters project to ensure there was no wrongdoing and ordering that the contract be re-bid, a move Peters supported. The other project was cancelled.
But here’s the reality:
But that’s not proof of actual impropriety. Fair or not, there is a cloud hanging over the heads of Peters, Cope, Franken and the governor. Because of the involvement of people close to