Ayudando defendant admits money laundering

He says he was ‘indifferent’ to ‘criminal activity’

The last of the four defendants indicted in the Ayudando Guardians Inc. embezzlement scheme pleaded guilty to two federal charges on Tuesday, while victims whose losses totalled more than $4 million continue to wait for restitution.

In a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge John F. Robbenhaar, Craig Young, 54, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. The charge related to his use of a company credit card for personal expenses that Ayudando managers paid by defrauding clients.

In his plea, Young didn’t admit to knowing at the time the source of the money used to pay his bills, only that he was “deliberately indifferent” to the fact it came from some kind of “criminal activity.”

“I should have known, but I didn’t pursue the truth,” he told the judge.

He also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate federal law related to his sale — after the scheme was exposed in 2017 — of a motor home that had been purchased with the illicit proceeds.

At the time, federal authorities were looking for properties or other assets purchased with Ayudando client funds that could be subject to federal forfeiture.

Young’s mother, Susan Harris, 73, was the primary owner and founder of the nowdefunct Albuquerque-based firm that had an estimated 1,000 clients, many of whom were vulnerable people who couldn’t handle their own finances.

The company, one of New Mexico’s largest guardian firms, was closed by the U.S. Marshals Office after Young, Harris and two others in the company were indicted in 2017. But until the case is finally over and the defendants are sentenced, restitution to those defrauded in the scheme is on hold.

No sentencing date was set for Young, who faces a maximum 10 years in federal prison. Three others who have pleaded guilty this year in the case are also awaiting sentencing.

Federal prosecutors alleged that beginning in 2010, the four defendants siphoned client funds to pay for luxury vacations, vehicles and Young’s mortgage payments.

Young was employed as a guardian at the firm, which also offered representative payee services, receiving benefits for clients and paying their bills.