Lawyer: AG wants to destroy Griego
Former state senator is set to be sentenced on corruption charges
The state attorney general is trying to destroy former state Sen. Phil Griego by having him sentenced to a decade in prison on corruption charges, the attorney for the exlawmaker said in a court document Thursday.
Tom Clark, the attorney for the disgraced Democrat, said his client, 69, is the sole provider for family members, is in ill health and should be spared incarceration.
The attorney also said that other public officials convicted on corruption charges in recent years received sentences of far less than 10 years.
Griego is scheduled to be sentenced Friday by a state District Court judge. Attorney General Hector Balderas has recommended that the judge sentence the former senator to 10 years in prison.
“What is being sought is the complete destruction of the mind, body and soul of Phil Griego.” Clark wrote in his sentencing memo to the court.”Nothing Griego has ever done justifies such a terrible fate.”
At the end of a three-week trial late last year, a jury found Griego guilty of five crimes, including bribery and fraud, in a case that revolved around a $50,000 broker’s fee. He collected the fee after helping facilitate legislation that authorized the sale of state property to a downtown Santa Fe hotel.
In the attorney general’s recommendation, filed this week, prosecutors argued that a 10-year sentence would be just.
“The requested sentence will not only promote respect for the law and the seriousness of the offense, but also provide an effective deterrent through the application of a just punishment,” prosecutors wrote.
In his sentencing memo, Clark brought up several other corruption cases that involved New Mexico politicians.
Among those were former Secretary of State Dianna Duran, who in 2015 was facing dozens of charges, including embezzlement, fraud and money laundering. Balderas’ office entered into a plea bargain, in which Duran had to spend 30 days in jail.
Former State Treasurer Robert Vigil, involved in a kickback scheme, was sentenced in federal court in 2007 to just over three years in prison. His predecessor, Michael Montoya, who pleaded guilty to corruption charges in 2005, received a four-year sentence.
Former state Senate leader Manny Aragon, D-Albuquerque, served about four and a half years in a federal prison for skimming money from an Albuquerque courthouse project.
“Those who murder and rape deserve to be behind bars,” Clark wrote. “People who traffic deadly drugs, with no regard to the damage it causes, deserve to be locked up. Those people with histories of violence who act without regard to the safety of others should be locked up. Phil Griego is not one of those people.”
Clark said that Griego is the sole provider for his wife, his disabled son and several grandchildren.
“By requesting a 10 year prison sentence, the state is asking that not only Phil Griego’s life be destroyed, but those who love him and depend on him as well,” he wrote.
He said Griego suffers from various health issues including cardiovascular disease, coronary artery disease and diabetes.
Contact Steve Terrell at 505-986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com. Read his blog at www.santafenewmexican.com/ round house_ roundup.