Jury finds Rio Arriba County sheriff guilty of two felonies
Dec. 1—After only a few hours of deliberations, a Santa Fe County jury found Rio Arriba County Sheriff James Lujan guilty Wednesday of aiding a felon and intimidating a witness in March 2017.
The verdict came after a three-day trial for Lujan — his second on the charges, which stem from allegations he helped former Española City Councilor Philip Chacon evade police following a high-speed chase. The first trial in the case, held in a Tierra Amarilla courtroom, ended in a mistrial after jurors deadlocked.
Special prosecutor Andrea Reeb, the district attorney in the 9th Judicial District, argued Lujan knew Chacon had fled from Española city police and went to his home to help him avoid arrest.
Reeb told the jury Lujan believes the law "does not apply to him like it applies to everybody else."
"[He] loves the power of being the elected sheriff, and he was elected to uphold the law, but he used his powers to thwart the law by helping his friend, Phillip Chacon, get out of trouble," she said in closing arguments Wednesday.
Lujan is still awaiting trial on three misdemeanor counts of resisting, evading or obstructing an officer in another case involving Chacon. Lujan allegedly showed up drunk at Chacon's house in March 2020 as police were executing a search warrant and tried to take over the operation from local officers and New Mexico State Police.
