It’s been over a year and no charges have been filed against Henrietta Trujillo. The former Northern New Mexico College finance director resigned her position in March 2017 and provided her supervisor with a box of evidence detailing how she allegedly kept over $200,00 from the College.
New Mexico State Police Agent Mitch Bengston found that Trujillo withheld $249,243 from deposits for the College, of that $92,852 was in checks that were deposited later or replaced and $167,433 was in checks that were not deposited. A total of $81,910 in cash was missing.
Trujillo confessed to Bengston that when she “could not make ends meet” she began to take the deposits from the safe and would keep the cash. She told him she stored the checks and the deposit sheets in a box in her closet at her Santa Fe home.
“Henrietta first said she kept track of the packets and dollar amounts she had taken,” Bengston wrote. “But later said she had not completed a total until right before she resigned.”
During interviews with other employees, State Police determined that the first deposit not taken to the bank was from August 2012.
The accountant who was responsible for general ledger accounts told Bengston she had asked Trujillo about missing deposits, but Trujillo told her there was a problem with the bank. Since Trujillo was her supervisor, she didn’t take any further action.
According to the State Police report, Trujillo escaped detection for years by making excuses and not providing cash account reconciliations to auditors until it was too late in the process. This resulted in auditor reports that said the cash couldn’t be reported by auditors because it had not been reconciled.
Bengston reviewed various financial documents with Trujillo, and throughout the process also asked her about her gambling habits.
Trujillo told Bengston she did not feel that she had a gambling problem, and that she believed her casino spending was limited to less than $100 per visit, two to three times per week.
State Police Agent Wayne Harvey obtained records from the Pueblo of Pojoaque related to Trujillo’s gambling habits and found a total of $519,817 was spent using her player card between 2007 and 2016.
It’s unknown exactly what consequences Trujillo will face following her confession and the full investigation into the college’s finances.
According to a previous Rio Grande SUN story in August 2017 First Judicial District Attorney Marco Serna said he expected he would be indicting Trujillo within 30 days. Then in October 2017, Serna said it was taking longer because of the complicated nature of the crime and a pending final investigation report from New Mexico State Police.
Now, Serna says he’s in “pre-indictment plea negotiations” with Trujillo and he anticipates a resolution soon.
When asked if the white collar nature of the crime warranted a different approach than a common theft, Serna said it did.
“This office focuses precious resources on dangerous, violent offenses like murders and rapes, but also has a commitment to reaching full restitution for white collar crimes through pre-indictment pleas,” Serna said. “We are consistent in the approach regarding all white collar crimes and will continue the policy.”
Embezzlement of over $20,000 is a second degree felony punishable by up to nine years in prison and fines of up to $10,000. It is expected that any plea deal reached by Serna and Trujillo would result in a restitution agreement to return the money she allegedly embezzled from the College.
The District Attorney’s Office referenced two defendants offered similar deals. Elizabeth McGory chose a pre-indictment plea and paid $15,200 in restitution, and John Torres-Nez took a similar deal and paid $36,820 in restitution.
Just because Serna is offering a deal doesn’t mean that Trujillo won’t have a criminal record, First Judicial District Attorney Media Contact James Hallinan said.
“A possible plea and specific details are still being negotiated,” Hallinan wrote in a Monday email. “However, the defendant would have a felony conviction.”
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