SUN Staff Report
Rio Arriba County Elections Chief Maria Elena Rodela has agreed to a plea deal to avoid conviction for her August 2008 drunk driving arrest in Conejos County, Colo.
Rodela, 32, was granted a deferred sentence March 3 for driving under the influence if she pleads guilty at a hearing set for April 7, Conejos County Court Judicial Assistant Shelly Quintana said.
A second charge, driving without proof of insurance, was dropped.
“Generally what happens with a deferred sentence is that she pleads guilty but she has a certain amount of time to meet the judge’s conditions,” Quintana said. “If she successfully completes those conditions in that time, then the (guilty) plea is withdrawn and the charge will be dismissed.”
Rodela will learn what conditions she must meet, and how much time she has to meet those conditions, at her hearing.
Rodela’s boss, County Clerk Moises Morales refused to comment on the case.
“She’s innocent until proven guilty, que no?” Morales said.
County Assistant Manager Tomas Campos was less sympathetic.
“Until I receive a letter saying the charges were dismissed, she cannot drive a County vehicle and cannot drive her own vehicle on County business for three years,” Campos said, citing county policy.
Morales will have to decide whether Rodela can do her job without driving a car until charges are dismissed, Campos said.
“That’s up to Moises,” Campos said. “He has to decide if he’s willing to have her shuttled around by deputies and take that hit to his budget. If it’s part of her job to drive, that’s up to him. If it were me, it would be the end of the line because I have to drive to meetings for the County.”
Rodela has twice denied she was involved in another alleged alcohol-related incident, this time in February. Initially, Rodela said she had not been pulled over by police in Ensenada. Subsequently, Rodela said police didn’t pull her over because her car was already stopped when a deputy arrived on the scene.
“We were stuck in the snow, and I wasn’t driving,” Rodela said.
She would not identify the driver. Asked how the car came to be stuck in the snow, Rodela said she did not remember. An Ensenada home owner confirmed that he called 911 after a car crashed into his yard on in mid-February, but refused to comment further.