Heath Haussamen
Attorney General Gary King says the plea bargain his office worked out with Jerome Block Jr. is “an important step… in the prosecution of government corruption in New Mexico.”
I disagree. I believe the deal, which gives the resigning Public Regulation Commission member a chance to avoid prison and felony convictions on his permanent record, does little to discourage other elected officials from engaging in criminal behavior in the future.
Block is admitting to several felonies from multiple cases. He committed fraud and embezzlement by racking up thousands of dollars in inappropriate charges on his and others’ state-issued gas cards. He violated the state’s public financing law and committed embezzlement by spending taxpayer money during the 2008 election in ways that weren’t allowed.
And though he’s not admitting guilt on this charge, Block is pleading no contest – an admission that the evidence exists to convict him – to embezzlement for taking a car from a Santa Fe dealership and never returning it.
Let’s not forget Block’s prescription drug addiction and the obvious questions about whether he illegally obtained meds, and his driving with a license that was suspended because he failed to appear in court on a traffic citation.
This is the man who has represented the voters of District 3 on the Public Regulation Commission since 2009 – a man who committed multiple felonies during his time as a political candidate and elected official, stole from taxpayers, and abused the public trust.
Block’s plea bargain allows him to avoid prison time if he completes a drug-treatment program and other terms of the deal. The AG also agreed to a conditional discharge, which means if Block successfully completes the probationary period, the felony convictions will be erased from his record.
In the end, if Block completes the probationary period, his only real punishment will be that he loses a job he never should have held in the first place. He also has to pay back the gas-card money, but that’s not punishment, it’s just reimbursement. And he has to complete a drug-treatment program, but that’s just forcing the man to get the help he needs.
To top it off, King is also going to dismiss felony charges against Block’s father, a former PRC member who was accused of violating the elections code and tampering with evidence during his son’s 2008 campaign, because his son took responsibility for the incidents upon which those charges were based.
A different set of rules
How did Block, who was literally backed into a corner with nowhere to go, swing such a sweet deal?
Simple. He’s part of a class of citizens that plays by a different set of rules than the rest of us. He’s an elected official, and he has that fact to use as a bargaining chip. I doubt a PRC employee caught doing the same things would have been given the chance to avoid a permanent felony conviction and a prison sentence.
The state’s political class was desperate to get Block to resign. He’s been in office abusing the public trust and stealing public money for years. And an impeachment trial, some said, might have cost the state $1 million.
King spun the deal in a news release as a fiscally smart move because it spares the taxpayers the expense of an impeachment trial. That’s hogwash.
By treating elected officials as a class of citizens for whom the rules are different, King encourages the mindset that allows public corruption to run rampant. Such corruption costs taxpayers untold amounts of money.
Seriously, who but an elected official could spend years stealing from taxpayers, end up admitting committing multiple felonies, and somehow work a deal that allows him to avoid prison time and a permanent conviction on his record? This is outrageous.
I’m a huge fan of structural reforms to improve governmental ethics. But there’s also something to be said for the threat of punishment as a deterrent to unethical behavior.
The message King is sending to elected officials is that they risk losing their jobs if they’re caught stealing from taxpayers. That’s not much of a deterrent.
New Mexico deserves better
King deserves credit for bringing the case against both Blocks. To date, this is the most important public corruption case he’s seen through from start to finish.
But he botched the finish. If the younger Block wasn’t willing to resign and take a plea deal that included prison time, King should have taken him to trial and the Legislature should have moved forward with impeachment.
The expense of the criminal and impeachment trials would have been worth every penny because of the message they would have sent to those who use their public positions to enrich themselves.
It’s too bad we didn’t send that message in the case of Jerome Block Jr. New Mexico deserves better than a political class that plays by a different set of rules.