New Indictment in SOS HAVA Funds Case

Almost two years after a state grand jury charged former New Mexico Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron and three consultants hired by her office on multiple counts of fraud, money laundering and other charges, a federal grand jury has indicted two of Vigil-Giron's co-defendants on additional charges.

Political consultant Armando Gutierrez, currently of Corpus Christi, Texas, and lobbyist Joe Kupfer of Rio Rancho are accused of overbilling by about $2.5 million for services in a voter education project administered by Vigil-Giron. The project involved federal money from the Help America Vote Act.

Vigil-Giron was not indicted in the federal case.

The state case has been jammed up in state court for months and months. The Defendants were successful in taking the prosecution out of the hands of the Attorney General. Now they have to find a new judge, as the last one, Pat Murdoch, just resigned after being charged with raping a prostitute.

(That looks great for New Mexico, doesn't it? We have to delay prosecuting the former secretary of state because the judge is being tried for raping a prostitute.)

Read my full story HERE and take a look at the indictment below.
110728 Gutierrez-Kupfer Indictment