Former state House majority leader Sheryl Williams Stapleton hit with dozens of federal charges

Mar. 27—A federal grand jury indicted former state House majority leader Sheryl Williams Stapleton on Tuesday, charging her with 35 federal criminal counts, including multiple counts of mail fraud, money laundering, bribery and a count of conspiring to defraud the United States.

Stapleton, also a former Albuquerque Public Schools official, was indicted in 2021 on 26 state felony and two misdemeanor counts for her alleged role in routing money meant for vocational education at APS to businesses and charities in which she had an interest.

Stapleton's case in state district court remains unresolved. A hearing is scheduled in the case for April 23, but no trial is scheduled.

Albuquerque attorney Ahmad Assed said he represents Stapleton in both the state and federal cases. Assed said in a written statement Wednesday that he has had little time to review the federal indictment and called it "unprecedented" for the U.S. Attorney's Office to move forward with federal charges while the state case is pending.

The federal indictment also names as a defendant Joseph Johnson, the owner of Robotics Management Learning Systems LLC and a "close personal friend" of Stapleton. It was not immediately clear if Johnson has an attorney in the federal case.

"The United States Attorney's Office (DNM) has taken the unprecedented step of prosecuting Ms. Stapleton in federal court, simultaneous to the New Mexico Department of Justice's prosecution of her in state district court," Assed said.

"While we have only just received the indictment, Ms. Stapleton continues to enjoy the presumption of innocence afforded to all persons under the Constitution," he added.

Stapleton and Johnson are scheduled for an initial appearance on April 9 before U.S. Magistrate Judge John Robbenhaar in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque.

The federal indictment centers on money sent to Robotics, a Washington, D.C.-based company that APS, largely under the direction of Stapleton, paid so teachers could use Robotics' computer learning program called CyberQuest in classrooms, according to the indictment.

From 2013 to 2021, APS paid $3,251,550 to Robotics, the indictment says. Most of that — $2,518,550 — came from federal funds intended for career-technical education programs.

Johnson, according to the indictment, provided blank checks for Robotics' checking account to Stapleton, who in turn allegedly wrote around 233 checks "for her own benefit" that totaled about $1,152,506.

Overall, that was over a third of the money APS paid to Robotics, the indictment says.

The federal indictment alleges Stapleton wrote checks from Robotics to companies she controlled. They included:

About 104 checks totaling about $480,000 to Ujima Foundation, a nonprofit entity that Stapleton and Johnson operated and controlled together.

About 56 checks totaling about $313,000 to Taste of the Caribbean, an Albuquerque restaurant she and her family owned and operated.

About 60 checks totaling $286,772 to her personal consulting firm, S. Williams & Associates.

The indictment also alleges she wrote 11 checks from Robotics totaling about $72,649 to other parties that provided goods and services to Stapleton, including for a remodeling of her home.

An Albuquerque Democrat, Stapleton represented District 19, east of the University of New Mexico, since she was first elected in 1994. She resigned from the House two days after search warrants were served at her home on July 28, 2021.

Stapleton was fired Aug. 31, 2021, from her $79,000-a-year job at APS as coordinator and director of career and technical education.

APS Superintendent Scott Elder asked then-Attorney General Hector Balderas to investigate Stapleton's involvement with Robotics.

Investigators at the time alleged that Stapleton oversaw the Robotics contract and diverted more than $950,000 to personal and business accounts. Those accounts included her personal consulting firm and a family restaurant.

State charges facing Stapleton include one count of racketeering, five counts of money laundering, 10 counts of engaging in an official act for personal financial gain, one count each of fraud, misuse and deposit of public money, and soliciting or receiving kickbacks.

In his statement, Assed asked for the public not to equate allegations as fact.

"Despite these allegations, it is undisputed that Ms. Stapleton is a life-long public servant who has devoted her career to the betterment of her community and underserved minorities in New Mexico, who otherwise would not have a voice," he said.