Former New Mexico tax secretary convicted of embezzlement
Jun. 19—The New Mexican
A Sandoval County jury on Friday found former New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Secretary Demesia Padilla guilty of stealing over $25,000 from a client of her side business while she served in former Gov. Susana Martinez's Cabinet.
Padilla, 61, faces up to 18 years in prison after being convicted of embezzlement and computer access with intent to defraud or embezzle, both second-degree felonies.
The jury deliberated for about two hours before returning a guilty verdict around 6 p.m. Friday, said Matt Baca, a spokesman for the state Attorney General's Office, which prosecuted the case.
"Small businesses are undoubtedly the lifeblood of New Mexico's economy and should not be stifled by internal corruption," Attorney General Hector Balderas said in a statement. "We are pleased to secure justice for the significant economic harm to the victims, and we will hold any person in a position of power accountable for unlawful conduct."
Padilla's attorney, Paul J. Kennedy, could not be reached for comment.
The court has yet to schedule a sentencing date for Padilla, who was one of the longest-serving members in Martinez's Cabinet when she resigned in late 2016 amid an investigation by the Attorney General's Office into her business dealings.
At trial, prosecutors said Padilla transferred about $25,000 from the bank account of a Bernalillo-based grading and trucking company that was a client of her accounting business by surreptitiously linking her credit card to the company's checking account.
She transferred the money between 2011 and 2013 — after taking over as secretary of the Taxation and Revenue Department in 2011.
Prosecutors said the company, Harold's Grading and Trucking, did not authorize the 40 electronic transfers.
Some witnesses told investigators Padilla claimed money transferred from the company was owed to her.
Padilla has maintained that she stopped working for the company around the time she became the state's top tax official, but investigators said her husband, Jessie Medina Jr., signed off on the company's tax returns for several years after she became a Cabinet secretary.
