Sheryl Williams Stapleton, a former New Mexico state legislator and Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) official, alongside Joseph Johnson of Virginia, entered pleas of not guilty to multiple felony charges relating to the misappropriation of federal funds earmarked for vocational education. The charges were heard in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque, marking Stapleton’s initial court appearance since her state indictment in 2021.
Dressed formally, Stapleton, aged 66, faced 29 federal counts, including serious allegations of defrauding the United States, alongside charges of bribery, fraud, and money laundering. Her plea was entered by her legal representative, Ahmad Assed, as she affirmed her understanding of the charges to U.S. Magistrate Judge John Robbenhaar.
Shortly after Stapleton’s plea, Joseph Johnson, 72, of Chantilly, Virginia, also pleaded not guilty to 28 similar felony charges. Both defendants were released on their own recognizance, with specific conditions including the surrender of their passports and restrictions on possessing firearms and acquiring new credit lines without federal pretrial services’ approval.
The indictment, issued by a federal grand jury on March 26, accuses both Stapleton and Johnson of engaging in bribery, mail fraud, money laundering, and conspiracies to defraud the United States and commit money laundering. Additionally, Stapleton faces a charge of fraud for allegedly providing false information to the Internal Revenue Service regarding her 2015 tax return.
Central to the allegations is Johnson’s company, Robotics Management Learning Systems LLC, based in Washington, D.C., which is implicated in both state and federal investigations. The federal indictment highlights a significant sum of $3,251,550 paid by APS to Robotics between 2013 and 2021, with a majority derived from federal funds intended for career-technical education programs. It is alleged that Stapleton misappropriated over a third of these funds for personal benefit through around 233 checks totaling $1,152,506.
Stapleton, who had a longstanding political career representing House District 19 in Albuquerque since 1994, resigned shortly after legal actions commenced in July 2021. Her case continues to unfold both at the federal and state levels, with her state court case still pending and a hearing scheduled for late April.
Who in APS is going down? They could not have done this without someone on the inside helping.
Theresa, you are absolutely correct.
For awhile now APS does NOT have an AUDITOR on staff.
What would you or the paying taxpayer expect? I’ll bet if truth be told this little case would be the tip of the iceberg. APS could not give you a real & total count of all the vehicles in their inventory. A lot of APS teachers call the main offices on Louisiana the “Puzzle Palace.”
Yeah she is crooked. But MLG basically has no eyebrows and has to use a step stool because she is to short. I heard that MLG and Biden support promotes abortion up to birth.I think she and Biden claim to be Catholics. They are not Catholics if you allow death for infants up to birth.God judge especially when you take a new on the day pregnancy or days before.Weather you’re Catholic or Christian greatest thing that you can do for a child is babtism because you bless them with Holy Water. Another thing or great Governor is opening up the borders in New Mexico.They said there’s been a constant flow of illegal immigrants don’t have the right to push Fentanyl. DEA seized 17,900,000+pill and 1,813+powder.That could potentially be 93.7 million potentially deadly doses.2mg could be potentially deadly. Fentanyl could be 50 times stronger and 100 times stronger than morphine. Guess where these come from they are produced and Shipped to Mexico.The cartels send a lot of mules a lot get. Dump midget.Open New Mexico southern borders.Promoting drug runners. It’s already made the National Stations an local station. What to think what they are going to to MLG open border. There’s large amounts.
APS is a money pit, how could this much money be spent or lost and not be noticed earlier. What other projects, schemes, or thieves stealing from APS? Audit APS, start at the towers on Louisiana. Could there be more APS employees doing the same thing?