ESPAÑOLA, N.M. (AP) - Another official in a New Mexico county where its sheriff is facing charges is in legal trouble.
The New Mexico Attorney General’s office says former Rio Arriba County Commissioner Barney Trujillo made over $100,000 from three contracts with Española Public Schools without a proper business license, the Albuquerque Journal reports.
The office says Trujillo also never disclosed that he contributed to the campaigns of two school board members, which is a violation of governmental conduct laws. In addition, investigators say the 39-year-old Trujillo ran illegal school board meetings, even though he wasn’t a member.
He faces three counts of unlawful interest in a public contract and one count of failing to disclose campaign contributions. He could face up to six years in prison.
Trujillo’s attorney, Dan Cron, said it wouldn’t be appropriate to comment on the allegations.
A jury selection hearing is scheduled for June 22.
Trujillo was elected to the Rio Arriba County Commission in 2010 and served two consecutive terms. He also ran for state representative in 2016, but lost in the Democratic Party primary.
The Attorney General’s Office executed search warrants on the EPS district office and Trujillo’s home in January 2017.
The charges come as Rio Arriba County Sheriff James Lujan is facing charges himself over allegations he showed up drunk to a SWAT standoff, tried to order officers away, then ignored commands to leave the “kill zone.”
According to the complaint filed last month, Lujan, in plainclothes, attempted to take over the scene involving a barricaded subject in Española.
Lujan has denied the allegations.
Former Rio Arriba County Sheriff Thomas Rodella was convicted of brandishing a firearm and deprivation of rights. According to prosecutors, Rodella pulled a gun on motorist Michael Tafoya, then 26, and struck him in the face with his badge during the 2014 traffic stop because Tafoya cut him off in traffic.
Rodella was sentenced in 2015 to 10 years. He’s currently at a federal prison in Seagoville, Texas.
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