Plea deal sets 10½-year sentence and $1.8M restitution
Sheryl Williams Stapleton, a former high-ranking Democratic state legislator in New Mexico, pleaded guilty Friday in Albuquerque to state counts that include fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors said she diverted millions of dollars intended for vocational education in the state’s largest school district to businesses and charities in which she had an interest.
Williams Stapleton changed her plea during a court hearing three weeks after a federal jury convicted her of dozens of similar charges stemming from what prosecutors described as a yearslong scheme. The state and federal prosecutions stem from the same underlying conduct, according to the Associated Press.
State prosecutors filed money laundering, racketeering, and other charges against Williams Stapleton in 2021. She had been scheduled to go to trial in October before entering the plea agreement.
Under the plea agreement, all but four of the state counts were dropped. The deal calls for a 10½-year prison sentence and more than $1.8 million in restitution.
The plea resolves the state case ahead of the scheduled October trial. The federal conviction, three weeks old, remains pending.