Former Las Vegas, N.M., mayor's corruption trial slated to begin

Dillon Mullan, The Santa Fe New Mexican
·3 min read

May 16—Testimony is set to begin Monday in the jury trial of former Las Vegas, N.M., Mayor Tonita Gurulé-Girón, who faces charges related to bid rigging, offering and receiving bribes and abuse of power.

Gurulé-Girón, who resigned in January 2020, is accused of pressuring city employees to award contracts to her boyfriend Marvin Salazar's construction company, Gemini Construction LLC, where she was also a business partner, according to documents filed by the state Attorney General's Office.

Gurulé-Girón, 63, "repeatedly interjected herself and committed official acts, using her position of power and authority in order to manipulate (or bypass) the procurement process in order for Marvin Salazar, her boyfriend/business partner, to profit," the complaint states. "In addition, Gurulé-Girón enhanced her own financial position by receiving in-kind kickbacks from Salazar in return for getting Salazar contracts with the city."

According to affidavits filed in the 4th Judicial District Court in San Miguel County, the Attorney General's Office will present the jury with records from Community 1st Bank Las Vegas.

In March, Gurulé-Girón's attorney, JoHanna Cox, filed several motions to dismiss the case in which she denied that her client had a business interest in the company, citing city code that does not involve the mayor in the procurement process.

According to one motion to dismiss, Cox does not believe the state will have evidence to connect Gurulé-Girón to the contracts.

"Salazar performed certain contracts for the City of Las Vegas," the motion reads. "No witness offered by the State can support that as Mayor, Defendant Gurulé-Girón was involved in the process for selecting contractors, awarding contracts or providing payment to contractors."

According to the criminal complaint, the Attorney General's Office says it can connect Gurulé-Girón with contracts to her boyfriend's company through text messages and irregularities in the procurement process.

In April 2016, according to the complaint, the city received three bids for new floors at City Hall, and Price's Home Furnishings' bid of $6,529 was rejected when an unknown person wrote on the bottom of Price's bid that the company only did laminate flooring, which the owner later told investigators was false.

After Price's bid was disqualified, the contract was awarded to Gemini for $8,998.

Text messages show the night before his company was issued a purchase order, Salazar went to Gurulé-Girón's home with a dozen roses, and then in September of that year, the purchase order was revised and reissued for $19,422, according to the criminal complaint.

"Salazar's revised invoice mirrored almost exactly what Gurulé-Girón told him to write," the criminal complaint states.

"It is obvious Gurulé-Girón directly assisted Salazar in writing the revised invoice that was later submitted to the city for payment of public money at an inflated cost," the complaint states.

Salazar has been charged with one count of offering or paying illegal kickbacks and making or permitting a false public voucher. In March 2017, the city issued an "emergency purchase order" to Gemini for $10,000 to fix a water leak at City Hall that the city's former risk manager, Darlene Arguello, told investigators "absolutely wasn't" an emergency, according to the criminal complaint.

A revised purchase order was issued less than a month later and increased the amount to $94,204.

"This $84,204 expansion was given solely to Gemini Construction without being subjected to any procurement process beyond the original alleged emergency," according to the criminal complaint.

Recommended Stories

  • Durst trial to resume after long delay; will jury be ready?

    It took nearly 15 years for police to arrest New York real estate heir Robert Durst in the killing of his best friend and another five to bring him to trial. On Monday, more than 14 months later, the jury is returning to Los Angeles County Superior Court to see if they can complete their assignment. Durst, 78, has pleaded not guilty to murdering his friend Susan Berman, who was shot in the back of the head in her LA home in December 2000.

  • Ex-Tennessee Titans employee sues franchise, alleging he was fired during COVID-19 leave

    A former Tennessee Titans sports field assistant has sued the franchise, accusing the team of firing him for during a leave with COVID-19.

  • American Idol season 18 contestant Doug Kiker arrested on domestic violence charge

    Doug Kiker, a garbage collector who won a ticket to Hollywood on 'American Idol' season 18, has been arrested on a domestic violence charge in Mobile, Ala.

  • Firms call for more help after 'haemorrhaging cash'

    Despite lockdown easing, businesses say they need more support to manage the impact of the last year.

  • Former Massachusetts mayor guilty of corruption

    A former Massachusetts mayor first elected at the age of 23 by promoting himself as a successful entrepreneur was convicted on Friday of stealing money from investors in his startup to pay for his lavish lifestyle and soliciting bribes from marijuana vendors who wanted to operate in the struggling city.

  • Anti-maskers and COVID deniers have been yelling about 'freedom' since the pandemic began. Now many of them are standing in the way of America's actual freedom.

    COVID deniers and turning into anti-vaxxers and preventing the rest of us from getting through the pandemic and back to normal.

  • Coca-Cola is eliminating one of its beverages. Here’s what to know

    This is the beverage giant’s latest cut after announcing last year it was downsizing its portfolio.

  • Jaden Hardy picks the G League. Can Kentucky overcome this recruiting trend?

    Hardy was the first guard from the 2021 class to land a UK offer and at one point seemed likely to come to Lexington.

  • 14-year-old driver dies after crash in stolen vehicle, Stockton police say

    A 14-year-old driver died after an early morning crash in a stolen vehicle Friday, according to Stockton police. Stockton police tried to pull over the stolen vehicle Friday around 12:41 a.m. near El Dorado Street and Fremont Street. Police said the 14-year-old driver did not pull over and led officers on a 2-minute chase before crashing into a tree at El Dorado Street and East Stadium Street. The juvenile female passenger was detained and not hurt, police said. The 14-year-old boy was taken to a nearby hospital where he later died, police said Saturday. Detectives are still investigating. No other details were released.

  • Watch Vanessa Bryant's Hall of Fame speech on behalf of her late husband Kobe

    The long-awaited 2020 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame may be one of the best in the sport's history, featuring NBA legends like Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett, a WNBA great in Tamika Catchings, and a stellar list of coaches, including Rudy Tomjanovich, Eddie Sutton, and Barbara Stevens. But the night will likely be remembered, most clearly, for Vanessa Bryant's speech, which she gave on behalf of her late husband, Kobe Bryant, the longtime Los Angeles Lakers star and five-time NBA champion who was killed last year in a helicopter crash alongside his teenage daughter, Gianna, and seven others. "All of your hard work and sacrifices paid off," Vanessa Bryant, who was accompanied on stage by her husband's hero and mentor, Michael Jordan, said at the close of her speech, speaking to her husband. "You once told me, 'If you're going to bet on someone, bet on yourself.' I'm glad you bet on yourself, you overachiever. You did it. You're in the Hall of Fame now. You're a true champ. You're not just an MVP, you're an all-time great." Watch the full speech below. More stories from theweek.com7 scathingly funny cartoons about Liz Cheney's ousterVaccinating the worldNetanyahu fiercely defends Israeli air strikes following 42 more civilian deaths in Gaza

  • Photo emerges of Republican barricading chamber doors during US Capitol attack after he compared rioters to ‘tourists’

    ‘Do Georgians always barricade doors against normal, everyday tourists?’ one critic asked

  • Cheney says McCarthy, Stefanik are 'complicit' in spreading Trump's lies

    Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) on Sunday told Fox News' Chris Wallace that she considers both House Minority Leader (R-Calif.) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), who replaced her as the chair of the House Republican Conference last week, "complicit" in spreading former President Donald Trump's lies. Cheney then reiterated what she's been saying the last few few months as she's come under fire from her GOP colleagues and was ultimately removed her from her leadership role — that she isn't willing to back Trump's falsehoods for the sake of the party. WALLACE: Are Kevin McCarthy and Elise Stefanik being complicit in the Trump lies? LIZ CHENEY: They are, and I'm not willing to do that. pic.twitter.com/zp9kbJZKi2 — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 16, 2021 In another interview that aired during Sunday's edition of This Week on ABC News, Cheney said she doesn't actually think many Republican lawmakers, save for maybe a handful, actually believe Trump's claims that the 2020 election was stolen. But she suggested it's "really dangerous" to cross Trump, so many have fallen in line anyway. "We now live in a country where [members of Congress'] votes are affected because they're worried about their security, they're worried about threats on their lives," she told Jon Karl. .@jonkarl: "How many of your colleagues actually believe that stuff—actually believe the election was stolen?" Rep. Liz Cheney: "I think it's a relatively small number." https://t.co/zwcCkO7rtC pic.twitter.com/xsyrfSdS4b — ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) May 16, 2021 More stories from theweek.com7 scathingly funny cartoons about Liz Cheney's ousterVaccinating the worldNetanyahu fiercely defends Israeli air strikes following 42 more civilian deaths in Gaza

  • Islamic nations slam Israel — and each other's ties to it

    A league of Muslim nations on Sunday demanded that Israel halt attacks killing Palestinian civilians amid heavy fighting between it and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, even as fissures between countries over their recognition of Israel emerged. A statement by the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation hewed closely to previous ones issued by the Saudi-based group, including backing the decades-old call for Palestinians to have their own nation with East Jerusalem as its capital.

  • GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw says Trump's relationship with Republican Party is nuanced, as he isn't 'the devil,' but 'he's not Jesus either'

    Rep. Dan Crenshaw said that the GOP can't "excommunicate" former President Donald Trump as the party moves forward.

  • ‘I think you’re lying’: Missouri lawmakers demand change in child welfare agency

    “It’s way past time for new leadership. But not only that, we need leadership that’s got some backbone and some skills,” one employee said.

  • What is going on with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene? Here is what happened this week

    This week Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene repeatedly made headlines after confrontations on Capitol Hill.

  • Foreign expedition abandons Everest attempt citing COVID-19 risks

    An international expedition abandoned its attempt to scale Mount Everest on Saturday, citing risks posed by an increasing number of COVID-19 cases at the base camp, the organisers said. Some climbers were evacuated from Everest base camp in April after they fell ill with COVID-19 symptoms as Nepal battles a brutal second wave of infections. Lukas Furtenbach, of Austrian expedition organising company Furtenbach Adventures, said his team of climbers from America, Norway, Israel, Germany, Austria, Italy, Luxembourg and Romania were abandoning the climb for safety reasons as the number of COVID-19 infections at the base camp was increasing.

  • Nepal scales back Hindu chariot festival amid virus surge

    A drastically truncated version of a Hindu chariot festival took place Saturday in Nepal's capital amid strict COVID-19 restrictions, following an agreement by organizers and authorities that prevented a repeat of violent confrontations between police and protesters last year. Typically, a five-story-high wooden chariot of the deity Rato Machindranath — whose statue is made from clay and covered in red paint with wide-open eyes — is pulled by devotees around a suburb of the capital, Kathmandu.

  • Six per cent of Americans believe they could beat a grizzly bear in a fight

    Six per cent of Americans believe they could beat up a grizzly bear in unarmed combat but almost a third think they would lose in a fight against a rat or house cat, a new survey has found. YouGov research found just 72 per cent of US men and women thought they would triumph in a clash with the rodent, while 69 per cent thought they would get the better of a domesticated feline. 61 per cent of Americans claimed they would best a goose. In findings that make a mockery of the pioneering spirit of the old West, less than half of those surveyed (49 per cent) thought they could beat a medium sized dog. That drops to just 23 per cent if the animal opponent was a large dog. Americans are least likely to think they could win against a grizzly bear, with just 6 per cent claiming they would emerge victorious. Only 8 per cent of those surveyed said they could beat a lion, gorilla or elephant in a fight. The poll of 1,224 adults found that one in five US men thought they could knock out a chimpanzee or king cobra. There was no gender difference between men and women when it came to rating their personal chances in mano to animal combat. Both are equally unlikely to think they could win in a fight with lions, gorillas or bears. Differences do start to emerge between the sexes when it comes to battling wolves and kangaroos. About 17 per cent of American men fancy their chances against the boxing marsupials and wolves but only 11 per cent of women. The gender gap is biggest when it comes to fighting with medium-sized dogs and geese. 60 per cent of men said they would beat the dog, compared to just 39 per cent of women. 71 per cent of men asked were convinced they could trounce a goose compared to just 51 per cent of women. YouGov also asked people which animal would win in a series of random head-to-head fights. Elephants had a win rate of 74 per cent, just beating the rhinoceros into second place by a fraction of a percentage. An unarmed human had a ratio of just 17 per cent, only three per cent above the goose, which came last in battle of the 34 beasts. The grizzly bear was third with 73 per cent while tigers (70), hippos (69), lions (68) and crocodiles (67) also scored well against their rivals. Which animal do you think you could you beat in a fight? Tell us in the comments below!

  • Italian judge accused of arms trafficking after police discover huge cache of weapons

    An Italian judge accused of taking bribes to free mobsters from prison is at the centre of an arms trafficking investigation after allegedly amassing a huge arsenal of illegal military-grade weapons. A new arrest warrant was issued for Giuseppe De Benedictis, after police discovered one of the largest private stashes of weapons ever confiscated in Italy. The Bari judge was already facing corruption charges after police bugged gangsters bragging about buying him for 30,000 euros. It comes as Italy reckons with the ongoing influence of organised crime in a mafia "super-trial," in which more than 350 alleged mobsters and their collaborators will face justice. It is the biggest mafia trial since the 1980s. The arsenal was hidden beneath a rural farmhouse among the olive and almond groves north of Bari. When police lifted the cellar's heavy iron lid, which had been soldered shut, they discovered nearly 200 different weapons, including Kalashnikovs, AR15s, UZI, Socimi and Beretta machine guns, pump action shotguns, CZ and other semi-automatic pistols, hand grenades, 100,000 rounds of ammunition, and even an anti-tank mine. Anti-mafia authorities are now investigating whether some military equipment may have been stolen from the Italian army to be sold on the black market. Prosecutors believe Mr De Benedictis and an Italian army officer may have been helping organised crime gangs move illegal arms through the port city of Bari, but the ex-judge maintains the collection was just a side hobby. A known, passionate collector of rare and antique guns, he reportedly firsty told authorities he had dumped any questionable weapons into the Adriatic Sea, but police continued to search for the cache, following leads from wiretapped conversations. According to Lecce prosecutors and the 40-page arrest warrant issued by Investigating Magistrate Guilia Proto, Mr De Benedictis had wiretapped conversations with an Italian Army official in Bari, Corporal Major Antonio Serafino, about how to procure arms and where to hide them. Corporal Major Serafino worked at the passport office of the Italian Armed Forces Mechanised Brigade “Pinerolo” in Bari. The brigade has infantry, cavalry and artillery regiments with access to howitzers and other arms. According to court documents, police bugged his car, and the hidden microphone picked up the sound of machine gun fire from Serafino’s balcony in a Bari suburb on New Year’s Eve, as he and Mr De Benedictis tested out some of their weapons. The same bugs picked up conversations between the judge and the army officer debating about whether and how to move the cache of weapons from the “well” in a rural location. The well turned out to be an underground storage cellar in an outbuilding of a farmhouse near the village of Andria. The arrest warrant issued this week charged the farmhouse owner, Corporal Major Serafino and Mr De Bendictis with illegal arms dealing. It referred to them as “authentic traffickers of weapons of war” which they deny. Prosecutors are in the process of verifying the provenance of the arms to determine if they may have been the property of the Italian Army, and if so, what other public officials might have been complicit in aiding their disappearance.