Padilla corruption case moves forward
Former tax agency chief could face up to 16 years if convicted
SANTA FE — Former New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Secretary Demesia Padilla will likely face trial on allegations she embezzled money from a former client and abused her Cabinet post, after a judge ruled Friday there was enough evidence to move forward with most of the charges in the case.
The ruling by Santa Fe Magistrate Court Judge Donna Bevacqua-Young to bind over seven of the eight charges against Padilla — two felonies and five misdemeanors — to state District Court came after a week-long preliminary hearing.
Several current and former Taxation and Revenue Department employees testified during the hearing, as did the owners of a Bernalillo trucking
company that Padilla used to work for as a certified public accountant.
Padilla, who was one of Gov. Susana Martinez’s first Cabinet appointees after Martinez was elected in 2010, was charged in June by Attorney General Hector Balderas’ office with embezzling more than $25,000 from the company, Harold’s Grading & Trucking, and using her appointed position to push for favorable tax treatment. The charges were filed nearly three years after the AG’s Office received a referral about possible criminal activity on the part of Padilla from thenstate Auditor Tim Keller, who is now Albuquerque’s mayor.
“We appreciate the careful consideration Judge Bevacqua-Young gave this matter, and we now look forward to presenting evidence to a jury at trial,” Balderas, a Democrat, said in a Friday statement.
Padilla initially denied allegations that she pressured department employees to give preferential treatment to a former client of hers, telling the Journal in July 2015 that the allegations were just a “bump in the road.”
However, she abruptly resigned from her post in December 2016, shortly after state investigators raided the Taxation and Revenue Department’s office in Santa Fe in search of tax documents connected to Padilla and her husband.
The weeklong preliminary hearing was held to determine whether enough evidence existed in the case in order for it to proceed to trial. In her Friday ruling, the judge dismissed one felony embezzlement count against Padilla but bound over a similar charge. Other charges against her include violating the ethical principles of public service and engaging in an official act for personal financial gain.
Padilla could face up to 16 years in prison and as much as $20,000 in fines if convicted of all seven remaining charges. She is expected to be arraigned in the coming weeks and procedural motions could be filed before a District Court judge sets a trial date.
Padilla’s attorney, Paul Kennedy of Albuquerque, declined to comment Friday on the Magistrate Court judge’s ruling.
But during the preliminary hearing, Kennedy suggested that Padilla was owed money by the trucking company for her accounting services and was authorized to pay bills for the firm.
That suggestion contradicted testimony from the company’s co-owner, Harold Dominguez, who said Padilla was not authorized to access the company’s bank account to pay herself, even as an economic recession forced the company to fall behind on its taxes and other payments.
Dominguez also testified his family had trusted Padilla, saying at one point, “We treated her like family.”
Meanwhile, the allegations against Padilla mark the latest New Mexico public corruption scandal. Several elected officials have also faced criminal charges in recent years, and statewide voters will decide in next week’s general election whether to approve creation of an independent ethics commission.
New Mexico is currently one of six states without such a commission.