Font ResizeLAS CRUCES - A former New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division clerk has been indicted on charges of stealing money from the state while employed in Las Cruces.
A Las Cruces grand jury on Thursday indicted William Barela on one count of embezzlement and one count of tampering with public records, both fourth-degree felonies. Barela, 33, of Las Cruces, is accused of stealing more than $1,600 from MVD and then falsifying documents to cover up his alleged crime in January 2010.
He was employed with MVD as a clerk from March 2005 through April 2010.
"We have a zero-tolerance policy for anyone who betrays public trust in such an egregious and criminal fashion. We will pursue them with the full force of the law and bring them to justice," said Demesia Padilla, cabinet secretary-designate for the State Taxation & Revenue Department.
Barela will be arraigned before 3rd Judicial District Court Judge Fernando Macias on Feb. 7. If convicted on both counts, Barela is facing a maximum sentence of three years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines.
