Former New Mexico Department of Corrections facilities manager Laurie Chapman pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to accepting roughly $237,000 in bribes from a Santa Fe-based roofing company.
Chapman, 50, is said to have accepted the bribes in exchange for contracts at prison facilities.
She was indicted by a federal grand jury in April.
From co-worker Steve Terrell’s April article:
Chapman’s indictment, which stems from a 10-month investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, said she was instrumental in implementing a price-agreement procedure in March 2007 that allowed her to pick contractors without going through competitive bids.
Between 2007 and 2009, Omni was the only company listed on the Corrections Department’s roofing-company price agreement.
According to the indictment, Omni paid Chapman with cash, online transfers, checks and credit cards between February 2007 and August 2009. In July 2008, the indictment said, Chapman created a company called Zia Construction Inc. Some of the alleged bribes from Omni were paid through that company, though Zia never actually performed any work for Omni, the indictment said.
The payments from Omni ranged from $1,000 to $39,000, the indictment said.
Chapman faces up to 10 years in prison for the 30 counts listed in her indictment.
Here is Steve’s April article on the indictment:
