Trial set for a former New Mexico lawmaker accused of racketeering and money laundering - Associated Press
A corruption trial for a former high-ranking Democratic state legislator and Albuquerque Public Schools administrator has been scheduled for January.
Court records show the trial of Sheryl Williams Stapleton will begin Jan. 2, 2024. She is charged with 28 counts, including racketeering, money laundering, fraud, bribery and other allegations which became public in 2021.
The state attorney general's office told the Santa Fe New Mexican that delays to the trial have been due to changes in judge assignments, as three judges have rescued themselves from the case. Defense attorneys and prosecutors also sought more time to review documents related to the case.
Williams Stapleton is accused of diverting money meant for vocational education at Albuquerque Public Schools to businesses and charities in which she had an interest. She was also accused of using her legislative position for personal benefit.
Williams Stapleton has denied wrongdoing.
She resigned from the Legislature in July 2021 and was fired soon after by the school district.
Williams Stapleton's attorney, Ahmad Assed, did not immediately return a message seeking comment Friday.
The charges raised questions about how the state's largest school district was handling federal money. State officials demanded the district use a third-party auditor and train staff on a new set of fraud and waste safeguards.
Authorities spent months investigating Williams Stapleton's activities at the school district after concerns were raised that she allegedly had been channeling money to personal or business-related accounts through a kickback scheme.
The investigation primarily focused on her relationship with Washington, D.C.-based Robotics Management Learning System LLC, which had been providing online learning materials to the district.
An investigation found Robotics Management listed only a post office box in Albuquerque and was not registered to do business in New Mexico.
State investigators searched Williams Stapleton's home and office and subpoenaed records from the school district. Federal investigators later joined the case, with FBI agents seizing about $3 million they said was connected with the case.
Texas gunman in Walmart shooting gets 90 consecutive life sentences and may still face death penalty - By Morgan Lee And Paul J. Weber Associated Press
A white gunman who killed 23 people in a racist attack on Hispanic shoppers at a Walmart in a Texas border city was sentenced Friday to 90 consecutive life sentences but could still face more punishment, including the death penalty.
Patrick Crusius, 24, pleaded guilty earlier this year to nearly 50 federal hate crime charges in the 2019 mass shooting in El Paso, making it one of the U.S. government's largest hate crime cases.
Crusius, wearing a jumpsuit and shackles, did not speak during the hearing and showed no reaction as the sentence was read. U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama recommended that Crusius serve his sentence at a maximum security prison in Colorado and receive treatment and counseling for a severe mental health condition.
Crusius still faces a separate trial in a Texas court that could end with him getting the death penalty for carrying out one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history.
As Crusius was led from the courtroom, the son of one of the victims shouted from the gallery.
"We'll be seeing you again, coward," yelled Dean Reckard, whose mother, Margie Reckard, was slain in the attack. "No apologies, no nothing."
Police say Crusius drove more than 700 miles from his home near Dallas to target Hispanics with an AK-style rifle inside and outside the store. Moments before the attack began, Crusius posted a racist screed online that warned of a Hispanic "invasion" of Texas.
In the years since the shooting, Republicans have described migrants crossing the southern U.S. border as an "invasion," waving off critics who say the rhetoric fuels anti-immigrant views and violence.
Crusius pleaded guilty in February after federal prosecutors took the death penalty off the table. But Texas prosecutors have said they will try to put Crusius on death row when he stands trial in state court. That trial date has not yet been set.
In the U.S. government's case, Crusius received a life sentence for each of the 90 charges against him, half of which were classified as hate crimes. Attorney General Merrick Garland said after the sentencing that "no one in this country should have to live in fear of hate-fueled violence."
Joe Spencer, Crusius' attorney, told the judge before the sentencing that his client has a "broken brain." He said Spencer Crusius had arrived in El Paso without a specific target in mind before winding up at the Walmart.
"Patrick's thinking is at odds with reality … resulting in delusional thinking," Spencer said.
Crusius became alarmed by his own violent thoughts, Spencer said, and he once left a job at a movie theater because of them. He said Crusius also searched online to look for ways to address his mental health, and he dropped out of a community college near Dallas because of his struggles.
The sentencing in El Paso followed two days of impact statements from relatives of the victims, including citizens of Mexico and a German national. In addition to the dead, more than two dozen people were injured and numerous others were severely traumatized as they hid or fled.
One by one, family members used their first opportunity since the shooting to directly address Crusius, describing how their lives have been upended by grief and pain. Some forgave Crusius. One man displayed photographs of his slain father and insisted that the gunman look at them.
Crusius' family did not appear in the courtroom during the sentencing phase.
The attack was the deadliest of a dozen mass shootings in the U.S. linked to hate crimes since 2006, according to a database compiled by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University.
Before the shooting, Crusius had appeared consumed by the nation's immigration debate, tweeting #BuildtheWall and posts that praised then-President Donald Trump's hardline border policies. He went further in his rant posted before the attack, sounding warnings that Hispanics were going to take over the government and economy.
Ian Hanna, an assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted the government's case, said Crusius had embraced the "insidious lie" that America only belonged to white people. "He wanted to eliminate a class of people," Hanna said.
Tito Anchondo, whose brother Andre Anchondo was killed in the attack, called the sentence "the best it's going to get" because it ensures that Crusius will be left to think about his actions in prison for the rest of his life.
"In a sense justice was served today and in another sense I don't think anything is ever going to be the same," he said.
The people who were killed ranged in age from a 15-year-old high school athlete to several elderly grandparents. They included immigrants, a retired city bus driver, teachers, tradesmen including a former iron worker, and several Mexican nationals who had crossed the U.S. border on routine shopping trips.
Two teenage girls recounted their narrow escape from Crusius' rampage as they participated in a fundraiser for their youth soccer team outside the store, and said they are still fearful in public.
Margaret Juarez, whose 90-year-old father was slain in the attack and whose mother was wounded but survived, said she found it ironic that Crusius would spend his life in prison among inmates from racial and ethnic minorities. Others in the courtroom applauded Thursday as she celebrated their liberty.
"Swim in the waters of prison," she told Crusius. "Now we're going to enjoy the sunshine. … We still have our freedom, in our country."
___
Associated Press photographer Andres Leighton contributed to this report.
New Mexico high schools to strengthen penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct in sports - Associated Press
In an effort to rein in bad behavior in high school sports, the New Mexico Activities Association is toughening the penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.
A majority of approximately 160 member high schools voted late last month to change the bylaws regarding the code of conduct. The changes will take effect in the upcoming 2023-2024 school year.
This includes not just athletes but coaches, staff or people watching on the sidelines.
Anyone violating sportsmanship rules twice will be suspended for the remainder of an athletic season.
Someone outside of a team who violates conduct rules could also get banned from events for the rest of a season.
Unsportsmanlike conduct includes but is not limited to acts of violence or abuse, verbal attacks on officials, attacks on fans or inappropriate chants from spectators.
If an offense occurs when the athletic season is over, a penalty could be applied to the following season.
US senators seek expanded compensation for those exposed to nuclear fallout — Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
U.S. senators from New Mexico and Idaho are making another push to expand the federal government's compensation program for people exposed to radiation following uranium mining and nuclear testing carried out during the Cold War.
Downwinders who live near the New Mexico site where the world's first atomic bomb was tested in 1945 as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project in World War II also would be among those added to the list.
The legislation would amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to include eligible residents in areas affected by fallout in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah and the territory of Guam.
Democrat Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico and Republican Mike Crapo of Idaho announced Thursday that they were reintroducing the bill in the Senate after previous attempts to expand the program stalled.
The measure also has been introduced in the U.S. House, with supporters saying the clock is ticking as more people are diagnosed with cancers that they say are connected to exposure.
Lawmakers are hoping that momentum gained last year following bipartisan approval of legislation that prevented the compensation program from expiring can be tapped to expand the program and ensure that it doesn't expire as scheduled next summer.
The challenge will be getting more Republicans to support the legislation, said Tina Cordova, a cancer survivor and co-founder of the New Mexico-based advocacy group Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium. She said many people who would benefit from expanded coverage are in states represented by GOP lawmakers.
Cordova said radiation exposure continues to affect the latest generation of families who were exposed to fallout from nuclear weapons testing. She pointed to her niece, a 23-year-old college student who recently was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and the 2-year-old granddaughter of a Tularosa family who had an eye removed due to cancer.
"New Mexico has been asked to do so much," said Cordova, noting the state's role in development of the nation's nuclear arsenal and in the disposal of the resulting waste. "We bear the brunt of this and they still won't recognize that we were the first people to be exposed to radiation from an atomic bomb and no one has looked back."
Advocates have been trying for years to bring awareness to the lingering effects of nuclear fallout surrounding the Trinity Site in southern New Mexico and on the Navajo Nation, where millions of tons of uranium ore were extracted over decades to support U.S. nuclear activities.
Under the legislation, eligibility also would be expanded to include certain workers in the industry after 1971, such as miners.
The reintroduction of the legislation precedes the 78th anniversary of the Trinity Test in New Mexico on July 16 and comes as the federal government prepares to ramp up production of the plutonium pits used to trigger nuclear weapons.
Crapo said that while extending the compensation program for another two years is critical, more needs to be done to address the health effects of fallout from nuclear testing for his constituents in Idaho and elsewhere in the West.
For Luján, amending the compensation act has been a long battle. As a member of the U.S. House, he has introduced the legislation in each session since first being elected in 2008.
"Through no fault of their own," Luján said, "these workers and nearby communities were exposed to radiation as part of our national defense effort, impacting generations to come without providing the same relief available to other communities included under RECA."
Since the program began in 1992, more than 54,000 claims have been filed and about $2.6 billion has been awarded for approved claims. An estimated $80 million is needed for the compensation trust fund for the 2024 fiscal year that began July 1, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
New Mexico court upholds decision keeping utility from transferring shares of coal-fired power plant — Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
The New Mexico Supreme Court on Thursday affirmed a decision by utility regulators who rejected a proposal by the state's largest electric provider to transfer shares in a coal-fired power plant to a Navajo energy company.
The court also upheld the Public Regulation Commission's decision to deny a request by the Public Service Co. of New Mexico for a financing order that would authorize the utility to issue bonds to recoup the costs of abandoning the Four Corners Power Plant in northwestern New Mexico.
Navajo Transitional Energy Co. had sought to take over PNM's shares, saying that preventing an early closure of the power plant would help soften the economic blow to communities that have long relied on tax revenue and jobs tied to coal-fired generation.
Environmentalists have protested the transfer over concerns that the plant — which serves customers in Arizona and New Mexico — would be allowed to operate longer.
The Supreme Court heard arguments in the case earlier this year. In its order, it ruled that the decision by regulators was reasonable and consistent with the state's Energy Transition Act.
In rejecting PNM's plan in 2021, the commission said the utility failed to specify how it would provide replacement power for electricity it would no longer produce at the Four Corners plant.
Commissioners had raised concerns, given that the utility has yet to complete solar and battery storage facilities meant to replace another coal-fired plant — the San Juan Generating Station that closed last September.
The Supreme Court pointed out that PNM's director of resource planning, Nicholas Phillips, had testified about the limitations of the utility's modeling. PNM had relied on prior bids for San Juan replacements rather than identifying new resources to replace the Four Corners plant.
Phillips also acknowledged that PNM had encountered unexpected delays in replacing the lost capacity from San Juan's closure.
Given those delays and the generic information provided by PNM, the court said it agreed that "a reasonable mind could conclude that Phillips' testimony and PNM's modeling, on its own, was inadequate" to meet the utility's burden under the Energy Transition Act.
PNM officials said they were disappointed with the ruling.
Utility spokesman Raymond Sandoval said the commission's order delays PNM's exit from the power plant from 2024 until possibly 2031 and thus postpones reductions in emissions.
"Our commitment to serving our customers with zero carbon electricity doesn't end," he said, "and while an early exit from the Four Corners coal plant would propel us forward, we remain strong in our transition to affordable carbon-free electricity."
Located on the Navajo Nation, the Four Corners plant is operated by Arizona Public Service Co. That utility owns a majority of shares in the plant's two remaining units.
PNM had initially proposed the arrangement with the Navajo company as a way to remove coal from its portfolio. One of the conditions of a proposed multibillion-dollar merger with a subsidiary of global energy giant Iberdrola had required the New Mexico utility to show that it was taking steps to do so.
The court also noted that PNM was aware that commission staff had concerns about its modeling with regard to replacement resources.
Sandoval confirmed Thursday that the utility is still working to bring replacement resources online for the San Juan plant as well as replacements for the power that will be lost when leases expire at the Palo Verde nuclear plant in Arizona.
PNM does not have dates for when any of the projects will begin commercial operations. However, Sandoval said a 150 megawatt battery installation is being tested and can provide electricity to customers during the current heat wave.
The utility said it doesn't anticipate any rolling outages during these hot days since it purchased power in anticipation of peak summer demands.
Addiction medication scripts going unfilled in northern New Mexico - By Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
Addiction treatment workers say even if someone can get a prescription for medication that will help them manage their conditions, actually getting it filled in northern New Mexico is often so difficult that people give up on treatment altogether.
Source New Mexico’s Austin Fisher reports peer support specialist at Presbyterian Española Hospital Ronnie Flores told U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich during a meeting yesterday that the area pharmacies don’t have enough buprenorphine — an FDA-approved medication for opioid use disorder.
Researchers last year found restrictive federal regulations on how pharmacies can dispense the drug have led to delayed or suspended shipments. Another study published in May found that only 42 pharmacies in all of New Mexico carry the drug.
Kelly Mytinger, who manages the harm reduction program at the Santa Fe Mountain Center, told Heinrich that staff there can spend two to three hours a day on hold with pharmacies trying to sort out people’s prescriptions.
Find more details from Source New Mexico at KUNM.org.
Feds shoot down mining company’s ask to loosen cleanup standards at toxic uranium mine site - By Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
Last month, federal regulators rejected a mining company’s proposal to loosen cleanup standards at a former uranium mine in Western New Mexico.
Source New Mexico’s Danielle Prokop reports that, beginning in 1958, the Homestake Mining Company operated a mine in Cibola County, just five miles outside the town of Milan, until Barrick Gold bought them out in the early 2000s.
The Environmental Protection Agency named the mine a Superfund site — meaning it’s one of the most toxic places in the country and will take decades to clean up.
Last year, the company submitted an application to waive the standards to clean up contaminants from the groundwater – which the company set themselves at an earlier point.
Their request was reviewed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees nuclear clean-up operations and manages the site along with the Environmental Protection Agency.
The decision by federal officials was “a bit of a shock” to local environment advocates, who say the federal regulatory commission often sides with industry in much of its decision-making.
The company does still have some limited routes to get approval to try and loosen their cleanup requirements.
Federal appeals court overturns former New Mexico deputy’s qualified immunity – Albuquerque Journal
A former deputy in Chaves County who held a Roswell man at gunpoint is not entitled to qualified immunity according to a federal court ruling.
The Albuquerque Journal reports the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday in the case of David Bradshaw. He was off duty in 2018 and in an unmarked truck when he followed Mario Rosales home and blocked him in his driveway. Bradshaw had his child in his truck when he pointed a gun at Rosales.
Bradshaw was fired and charged with child abuse and aggravated assault. He was convicted in 2019 and sentenced to two years in prison.
Rosales sued in 2020 claiming the former deputy violated his right to be free from the use excessive and unnecessary force. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit finding Bradshaw had qualified immunity. That’s a doctrine that protects government officials from civil suits related to their duties unless they violate the law. The latest ruling reverses that decision.
Bradshaw’s attorney did not respond to the Journal’s request for comment.