Addressing corruption in New Mexico

A great deal has been said recently about what is being done to combat corruption in our state, a lot of it has been based on political rhetoric and posturing without regard to facts and verifiable records. Therefore, it is important for New Mexicans to know what their Attorney General’s Office has done and continues to do to address corruption.

Let’s start with what is arguably the biggest corruption case in recent New Mexico history, the Albuquerque Metro Courthouse scandal. One of my top prosecutors was assigned to this case from March 2007 (prior to indictment) through the restitution proceedings in July 2009. My prosecutor took an active part in motion hearings, plea hearings and all phases of the trial preparations, which were of course cut off when the main defendants accepted plea agreements, and he took part in restitution hearings after the defendants had been sentenced.

This is how things turned out for those who participated in one of the most infamous corruption cases on record for New Mexico, and the Attorney General’s Office was there every step of the way:

For their part in the Metro Courthouse crimes Manny Aragon, Toby Martinez, Raul Parra and Marc Schiff all pleaded guilty, were sentenced to federal prison and had to pay fines and restitution. Four other defendants also pleaded guilty and faced fines, restitution and probation.

Now let’s move on to the other corruption cases my office has concluded or is currently prosecuting.

• A guilty verdict was obtained in the trial of Roberta Vigil, former director of West Las Vegas Schools Bilingual Education Program. Vigil was convicted of misusing public funds.
• Vigil’s co-defendant, former West Las Vegas Schools Superintendent Joe Baca, pleaded to fraud and was ordered to pay restitution.
• Former Los Lunas Police Chief Nick Balido pleaded to two counts of filing false public voucher and two counts of receiving payment for services not rendered. He paid more than $5,400 restitution and resigned from office.
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  Kimberly Colbert was convicted of fraud, ordered to repay $600,000, and is currently serving a two-year prison sentence for embezzling funds from the Motor Vehicle Division as an MVD agent.
• Father and son, Jerome Block Sr. and Jerome Block Jr., were indicted by a Santa Fe Grand Jury on charges relating to Block Jr.’s 2008 campaign for Public Regulation Commission, including allegations of election law violations, embezzlement, tampering with evidence and conspiracy.
• Former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron and three co-defendants were each indicted on 50 felony counts relating to a $6 million Help America Vote Act (HAVA) media campaign contract.
• Defendant Vincent “Smiley” Gallegos is charged in two separate but related felony cases involving Region 3 Housing Authority. A subsequent investigation led to criminal indictments against Gallegos and three others.
• Most recently, my office successfully petitioned the N.M. Supreme Court for Carol Sloan’s removal from the Public Regulation Commission based on her felony convictions earlier this year.

The cases listed here are the real and verifiable record compiled by my office thus far, and other corruption cases are currently being investigated. I believe the citizens of New Mexico should know the truth about what the Attorney General’s Office is doing to address corruption.

King is New Mexico’s attorney general.