A former high-ranking Democratic legislator in New Mexico has been convicted of dozens of federal charges related to a scheme to divert money from public schools to a friend’s company in exchange for kickbacks. Jurors delivered the verdict Friday after a trial that featured testimony from former colleagues, investigators and tax experts.
Williams Stapleton, 69, could face decades in federal prison. Her attorney indicated that an appeal is being considered. "We’re obviously very disappointed with respect to the verdict rendered by the jury," defense attorney Ahmad Assed told The Associated Press via a text message. "Based on the evidence we put forward, we were hopeful for a different outcome."
A federal grand jury had indicted Williams Stapleton in March 2024 on more than three dozen counts, including bribery, mail fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to defraud the federal government. These charges were in addition to money laundering, racketeering, and other charges filed by state prosecutors in 2021. A trial for the state charges is scheduled for October.
Williams Stapleton, a former state House majority leader and an administrator with Albuquerque Public Schools, was first elected in 1994. She resigned from the House in 2021, two days after search warrants were executed at her home, and Albuquerque Public Schools terminated her employment.
Prosecutors stated that the school district paid more than $3 million to Robotics Management Learning Systems LLC, a Washington D.C.-based company central to both the state and federal cases. The majority of these funds were federal money designated for vocational education programs. As the school district’s career and technical education director, Williams Stapleton was responsible for directing funds for these programs to Robotics, which was owned by her friend and co-defendant Joseph Johnson.
Williams Stapleton was accused of facilitating the company's invoices through the procurement process. Johnson was accused of providing blank checks to Williams Stapleton, who allegedly wrote approximately 230 checks totaling $1,152,506 for her personal benefit. Johnson testified that he was unaware Williams Stapleton withdrew over $1 million from his company’s accounts between 2013 and 2020, attributing his lack of oversight to a loss of focus after his son’s death in 2016. Johnson claimed his office manager was responsible for mailing the blank checks to Williams Stapleton. Johnson was found guilty of charges similar to those against Williams Stapleton, including bribery and money laundering.
Prosecutors presented evidence that both Williams Stapleton and Johnson failed to report thousands of dollars in payments from Robotics on their federal income tax returns. Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Federici stated at the trial's outset that about 73% of the more than $3 million the company received from the school district and federal vocational training funds was profit, which the co-defendants allegedly split for their own use. Investigators determined that most of the money in Robotics’ checking account originated from federal education funds secured through contracts with the school district. Surveillance footage showed Williams Stapleton retrieving mail from the company’s Albuquerque post office box.