Former New Mexico House Majority Leader Sheryl Williams Stapleton pleaded guilty Friday to four state charges—including fraud, money laundering, receiving an illegal kickback, and unlawful interest in a public contract—stemming from an eight-year scheme to divert state and federal education funding.
The plea agreement, entered before Judge David Murphy in 2nd Judicial District Court, resolves a case that accused Stapleton of misusing public funds intended for vocational education in Albuquerque Public Schools. Under the terms of the agreement, Stapleton will serve 10½ years in prison concurrently with her federal sentence and pay $1,881,850 in restitution to the state.
The state charges were filed in 2021, with Stapleton originally facing 28 criminal counts, including racketeering. Her state trial, scheduled for October 5, was canceled following the guilty plea. Stapleton’s sentencing hearing for federal charges is set for December 16 in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque. Federal prosecutors have not disclosed an estimated sentence range.
Prosecutorial response
Lauren Rodriguez, chief of staff for the New Mexico Department of Justice, stated that the plea “holds Sheryl Williams Stapleton accountable for defrauding New Mexico taxpayers and abusing the public trust.” Rodriguez added that state prosecutors are satisfied the federal sentencing range will result in “a significant period of incarceration beyond what the state system could impose on its own.”
A message seeking comment from Stapleton’s attorney, Ahmad Assed, was not immediately returned.
Background and timeline
Stapleton, a Democratic legislator first elected in 1994, resigned from the House in 2021 shortly after search warrants were executed at her home. She also lost her position with Albuquerque Public Schools, where she had served as an administrator. The state and federal cases allege that Stapleton and a co-defendant, Joseph Johnson, diverted over $3 million to Robotics Management Learning Systems LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based company at the center of both investigations. Johnson was convicted alongside Stapleton in the federal case three weeks prior to her state plea.
The scheme is described by prosecutors as spanning eight years, during which funds intended for vocational education were allegedly redirected to entities in which Stapleton had a financial interest.