Ken Schultz!
Ken Schultz Buick-GMC?
LOL!!!
New Mexico has a serious culture of corruption, and it always seems to be from one particular party.
Manny Aragon finally got caught. Good news.
Feds indict Aragón, others
Source: KRQE News 13ALBUQUERQUE -- Former Senate President Manny Aragón and former Albuquerque Mayor Ken Shultz are among seven people indicted for alleged corruption in the construction of the Metro Court building in Albuquerque.
Aragón was one of four people indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday while Shultz and two other people have already pleaded guilty to crimes in the design and construction of the courthouse.
The U.S. Attorney's office said state taxpayers lost more than $4 million in the design and construction of the project thanks to the alleged wrongdoing of Aragón, Metro Court Administrator Toby Martinez. Martinez’s wife, Sandra Mara Martinez, and engineering firm partner Raul Parra.
The have all been indicted on charges of conspiracy, mail fraud and money laundering.
According to the U.S. Attorney's office, those four people schemed with others to defraud the state during the building of downtown's metro courthouse through kickbacks and padded contracts.
Federal prosecutors have already reached plea agreements with a subcontractor named Manuel Guara, project architect Mark Schiff and Schultz who worked as a lobbyist for one of the project contractors.
The corruption case is already sparking strong reaction from state leaders in Santa Fe especially in regard to the indictment of Democrat political strongman Aragón.
“I'm really sad,” Sen. Cisco McSorley, D-Albuquerque, said. “This is a bad day for the New Mexico Legislature that somebody who led us for 20 years is having these kinds of problems.
“We hope that everything is done according to the law and that these indictments are not politically influenced.”
The FBI forwarded the high-profile and publicly known case to the U.S. Attorney's office last October.
Former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias recently testified before Congress that he refused to rush the indictments despite alleged political pressure from Republican Sen. Pete Domenici, and his House colleague, Rep. Heather Wilson. Both Domenici and Wilson admitted calling Iglesias to inquire about the case in the weeks before the November election, but both have denied doing so to pressure Iglesias.
Schiff, Schultz, and Guara all entered their plea agreements earlier this year.
The three men will be sentenced sometime in the future.
He knew about this for months and months before the election. He was hired to clean up the corruption in NM politics and he failed to do it in anywhere near a timelt matter. He could have indicted these folks a year ago. He deserved what he got.
I just wish that the state of New Mexico would change its name to something else. Something more "American." I really dislike the name and I don't even live there.
It's about time!
I wonder if Iglesias will join Aragon's defense team. . .
These are DEMOCRATS! Therefore, there CANNOT be any corruption! Nothing to see here. Move along. All is well. Harry and Nancy told us so. < sarcasm off >.
Did you get pinged on this?
I thought Aragon was King of Gondor.....man, this has been a long day.......
Best news here in New Mexico I've heard all day! It's about time Manny Aragon got knocked off his high horse and come back to reality...same with Iglesias...
RAT corruption in our state!?! Who would have thought?
Aragon is not really a surprise, but Schults too? All the folks who bought cars from his dealership should go back and read the fine print on their contract. LOL
Another piece of the puzzle...
New Mexico: New Jersey with dry weather and a crappy economy.
a way of life
I dont keep up with this stuff ...any of these folks in Bill Richardsons administration?
"Iglesias believes he was fired as the federal prosecutor for New Mexico for resisting pressure from Senator Pete Domenici and Representative Heather Wilson, both New Mexico Republicans, to rush indictments in an alleged Democratic kickback scheme before the November election."
Meanwhile Tom DeLay still has yet to see his case brought to trial as he wanted before the November election.
Rats are vile. They engage in Stalinist tactics. Show trials. They take out their political enemies by any means necessary.