Former New Mexico Democratic lawmaker pleads guilty in multimillion-dollar public school kickback scheme 

Bribery, money laundering and fraud – these were just a few of the federal charges to which former New Mexico House Majority Leader Sheryl Williams Stapleton pleaded guilty in a case involving the state’s largest school district.

“In court Friday, Stapleton pleaded guilty to money laundering, fraud, unlawful interest in a public contract and soliciting or receiving illegal kickbacks,” reported KOB 4, the local NBC affiliate, in a Sept. 4 article. “She was facing 28 charges before Friday.”

Prosecutors had accused Stapleton, a Democrat and former schoolteacher, of using her previous position as director of career and technical education at Albuquerque Public Schools to steal millions in federal money, KOAT News reported in an Aug. 14 article. 

Stapleton’s longtime friend, Joseph Johnson, had supplied the district with a math program called CyberQuest through his company, Robotics.

Meanwhile, “Stapleton was responsible for administering those funds,” journalists explained, noting the indictment accused her of sending $3.2 million to Robotics and receiving $1.2 million in kickbacks.

“Prosecutors said Stapleton received blank checks from Johnson’s company, which she used for personal expenses. Both Stapleton and Johnson received over $1 million from the scheme, according to prosecutors.”

By pleading guilty, Stapleton reduced her possible sentence of two decades in prison by half, KOB 4 wrote.

“The plea agreement calls for at least 10 and a half years of prison time but allows the time to run concurrently as any federal prison sentence.”

The district enrolls approximately 60,000 students across more than 140 schools. About 25% of students are proficient in math and 43% are proficient in reading, and 92% of students receive free or reduced lunch.

State in deficit after overpaying vendor

Stapleton’s plea comes after a previous scandal involving the New Mexico Public Education Department, which admitted in December that it had overpaid one of its vendors.

Although Gallup-McKinley County Schools canceled its contract with an online learning company, K12, in May, the company was still receiving money for 3,000 virtual students who had been enrolled elsewhere for months, the department said.

“I’m not going to let our school district ruin an entire department’s budget over greed,” said Sen. George Muñoz (D-Gallup), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, of the agency’s $35 million shortfall.

Meanwhile, analysts such as Paul Gessing, president of Rio Grande Foundation, lament the state’s ranking as last nationwide in educational outcomes.

“For decades we were told that New Mexico is a ‘poor’ state and that if only we poured more money into government pre-K, K-12, and numerous other taxpayer-funded programs that improvement would come,” Gessing wrote.

“But, for the last decade the money to improve New Mexico has been available thanks to record-setting growth in oil and gas production. Despite massive spending growth in education and the creation of taxpayer-funded universal pre-K, our kids still face the worst outcomes nationwide.”

(Image credit: Screenshot / KOAT 7)