State Glance
Ex-county assessor pleads guilty in bribery corruption case
TUCSON — A former southern Arizona county official has pleaded guilty in a bribery corruption case in which he took cash and favors for reducing assessed values of properties so the landowner would save on taxes.
Former Santa Cruz County Assessor Felipe Fuentes, 62, of Nogales could be sentenced to up to five years in prison and fined $250,000 after pleading guilty Friday in U.S. District Court to conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, according to his plea agreement with prosecutors.
The plea agreement said Fuentes admitted taking $20,000 in cash payments and was given free use of a 17-acre (7-hectare) ranch property owned by one of the landowner’s entities
Court documents identified the landowner and another person acting on the landowner’s behalf only as Person A and Person B.
“Property taxes pay for critical local government services that support our communities,” United States Attorney Gary Restaino said in a statement. “Fuentes abused the public trust when he reduced the assessed value of property, and by doing so diverted money away from Santa Cruz County in order to serve his own self-interest.”
Fuentes’s sentencing is set for Aug. 2.
Man arrested in Mesa cold cases that occurred in 1989, 1990
MESA — A a suspect has been arrested in connection with two cold cases that occurred more than three decades ago in the same Mesa apartment complex, police said Tuesday.
They said 58-year-old Thomas Davis Cox is being held on a $1 million cash bond after being indicted on 16 counts in the cases including suspicion of first-degree murder, sexual assault, burglary and kidnapping.
Court records show 22-year-old Susan Amy Morse was found dead in her apartment in October 1989. Police said the woman had been sexually molested and died from asphyxiation.
In November 1990, police said a man broke into the same apartment complex and sexually assaulted a 23-year-old woman who lived there.
She survived the attack and the suspect stole cash and a VCR from the victim’s apartment before fleeing the scene, according to authorities.
Police said Cox recently was connected to both cases by DNA and fingerprint analysis.
They said Cox was found to be living in Colorado Springs, Colorado and was extradited to Phoenix.
Challenge to Democratic Arizona governor candidate withdrawn
PHOENIX — A legal challenge to one of three Democrats running for Arizona governor has been withdrawn after reports from county recorders showed Aaron Lieberman turned in enough signatures to make the ballot.
That means Lieberman will appear along with Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and Marco Lopez, a former Nogales mayor and Obama Administration border official, on the August primary ballot.
Attorneys for the voter who challenged Lieberman’s signatures, Logan Franklin, asked a judge in Phoenix court to dismiss the case Tuesday afternoon.
At a morning hearing, attorney Andy Gaona said he would know whether the case would proceed to a scheduled trial when Maricopa County completed its review of the challenged signatures. That review confirmed that the former state lawmaker had indeed turned in the minimum number needed to make the ballot.
Candidates must collect signatures from qualified voters to run for office. For Democrats seeking the governor’s office this year, the threshold was 7,035, but candidates often turn in at least twice as many as needed to ensure that enough are valid.
Lieberman turned in only 9,842 signatures, a low enough margin that opponents believed they might succeed in keeping him off the ballot.
Lieberman is the least known of the three Democratic vying to move on to the November general election. He’s unveiled a series of proposals, including providing the option for all 4-year-old to attend free preschool. On Tuesday, he released a plan that would allow students from low-income households to attend trade schools, colleges or universities and graduate debt free.