New Mexico State Police charged a Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s deputy with embezzlement for allegedly cashing garnishment checks incorrectly sent to him following a bonus pay dispute with his former employer, the City of Aztec.
Deputy Trevor Walker has been on paid administrative leave since July 9, after he came under separate suspicion of overtime fraud at the Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Office, according to charging documents. He has not been charged with anything related to the alleged overtime fraud.
NMSP Agent Charlene Archuleta charged Walker, 25, of Farmington, with a single count each of embezzlement over $2,500 and fraud over $2,500 on Sept. 8.
She requested and received a summons for Walker, instead of requesting an arrest warrant. He is set for his first appearance on Sept. 22, according to online court records.
Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Detective Manuel Romero first brought the allegations of fraud in Aztec to State Police detectives on July 21. Walker’s wages from the Sheriff’s Office were being garnished to repay a $16,000 signing bonus paid out by Aztec, because he did not spend a year at that police department, Archuleta wrote.
Walker signed an agreement with Aztec in June 2023 to repay the funds, mostly in $200 installments, but never did. A year later, in 2024, Aztec filed a lawsuit against Walker for breach of contract, seeking the money back, plus attorney’s fees and 10% interest, over $17,000, according to civil court filings.
According to the retention bonus agreement Walker signed on June 14, 2023, the one-year retention period was required by the state grant that was paying out the money for the officers and started when the check was signed, ostensibly, June 14, 2023.
Walker started at the Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Office in October 2023. He was placed on administrative leave on July 9, “pending an investigation” that the Sheriff’s Office turned over to State Police, Sheriff Lorenzo Aguilar wrote in a statement.
The City of Aztec received a default judgment after Walker did not respond to the lawsuit, and a garnishment order was sent to the Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Office for 25% of his pay.
However, the garnishment documents had an error: they put Walker’s address where the garnishment checks were to be sent, according to the writ of garnishment and criminal court filings.
“Detective Romero confirmed Walker had the checks mailed to his home and deposited them via mobile deposit, with only his signature,” Archuleta wrote.
She then got Walker’s bank records that showed he cashed seven garnishment checks, totaling $5,316, between March and June, she wrote.
“Upon review of the documentation received, It is evident that all six mobile deposits bearing the payee ‘City of Aztec’ were deposited into Mr. Walker’s personal checking account,” Archuleta wrote. “This further supports the conclusion that Mr. Walker knowingly deposited these checks, despite the fact that his name does not appear on any of them.”
His signature “remained consistent across all mobile deposits,” she wrote.
No hearings beyond the Sept. 22 first appearance have been docketed.