![\"Gilbert](\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Vasquez-Gilbert-336x252.jpg\")
<\/a>Courtesy photo<\/p>
Gilbert Vasquez<\/p><\/div>\n
In the District 4 City Council race, voters\u00a0can cast their ballots for Gilbert Vasquez instead of Jack Eakman or\u00a0Richard Hall. But without a pardon,\u00a0Vasquez won’t\u00a0be allowed\u00a0to take office next month even if he wins\u00a0the race on Tuesday<\/a>.<\/p>\n That’s because people convicted of felonies\u00a0can’t hold office<\/a> in New Mexico\u00a0without a gubernatorial pardon.<\/p>\n Martinez makes clear\u00a0the conditions under which she will consider a pardon\u00a0on her office’s website<\/a>. Those convicted of a third-degree felony must have been arrest-free for 15 years after completing probation and\/or parole.<\/p>\n “There will not be any exceptions made to the governor\u2019s guidelines,” the website\u00a0states.<\/p>\n Vasquez, 58, was arrested in\u00a01984\u00a0on a charge of\u00a0aggravated battery with a firearm, a third-degree felony, and later convicted.\u00a0He’s seeking pardon for that conviction and a second for possession of stolen property stemming from a 1983 arrest.\u00a0It’s not clear if the second is\u00a0a misdemeanor or felony conviction.<\/p>\n Vasquez hasn’t met the governor’s arrest-free requirement.<\/p>\n Las Cruces Police Department officers arrested Vasquez 10 times between 1991 and\u00a02008, according to a police record<\/a>\u00a0Vasquez provided\u00a0the governor along with his pardon application<\/a>. Charges that led to those arrests ranged from contempt of court to negligent child abuse.<\/p>\n Vasquez was most recently booked into the Do\u00f1a Ana County Detention Center three\u00a0times in 2008 and 2009, county records indicate.\u00a0Those arrests relate to\u00a0the negligent child abuse charge\u00a0— a third-degree felony — and a separate misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia.<\/p>\n Vasquez pleaded guilty<\/a> to the misdemeanor drug charge in 2009. In exchange, prosecutors dismissed the felony.\u00a0Vasquez was sentenced<\/a>\u00a0to 264 days in jail and 100 days on probation.<\/p>\n Vasquez is aware\u00a0he doesn’t meet the governor’s arrest-free criteria, he told NMPolitics.net. He’s hoping\u00a0the governor will make an exception to a\u00a0policy that states there will be no exceptions.<\/p>\n Vasquez says\u00a0he\u00a0has been clean and sober for seven years. He\u00a0called that “a miracle.” He has a steady job at a hardware store, is married, and is raising his son.<\/p>\n Martinez wasn’t sympathetic when another candidate\u00a0with a\u00a0felony conviction won election to the Middle Rio Grande Conservation District board earlier this year.<\/p>\n Matthew Aragon of Los Lunas was\u00a0convicted in 1997 of shooting at a moving vehicle. The Albuquerque Journal<\/a>, citing a police report, wrote that Aragon “fired a rifle at a car occupied by men who were taking a beer keg from his property.”<\/p>\n Martinez denied Aragon’s pardon application. The runner-up in the\u00a0election took office. In that case, Martinez’s office said she “doesn’t\u00a0appreciate being asked to provide special consideration for a political purpose.” All pardon applicants must go through a process that includes “an extensive review of an applicant\u2019s criminal history and other factors,” Martinez’s office said.<\/p>\n Vasquez’s review\u00a0process isn’t off to a positive\u00a0start. His pardon\u00a0application was\u00a0missing required details about his criminal history, so the Governor’s Office sent it back and asked\u00a0for more information<\/a>.<\/p>\n As for the arrests, governors have sole discretion in pardon decisions.\u00a0Martinez is allowed to make an exception to her own policy for Vasquez, even if her website states she won’t.<\/p>\nSeeking an exception<\/h3>\n
‘A lot of leeway’<\/h3>\n