SUN Staff Report
9/3/09
A former Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s deputy may be given a plea deal on charges of robbing a Santa Fe pharmacy of prescription pills last spring, according to statements made in court.
Prosecutor Anthony Rivera said at an Aug. 28 pre-trial conference in state District Court in Santa Fe that a plea had been extended to Brian Vigil, 37, but no agreement has been reached yet and no plea hearing has been scheduled. If Vigil doesn’t take a plea, the state estimates a two- to three-day trial.
Vigil was charged with armed robbery with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a controlled substance and tampering with evidence May 11 after a two-hour standoff with police outside Del Norte Pharmacy in Santa Fe. After he allegedly robbed the pharmacy of four kinds of pills at gunpoint, he stood in a field nearby threatening to kill himself.
Vigil’s attorney, Dan Marlowe, who was not present at the hearing, did not return calls for comment.
Meanwhile, the Santa Fe Police Department filed a search warrant in state District Court Aug. 18 to obtain an oral swab of Vigil’s DNA. The warrant doesn’t explain how DNA is being used in the case, or whether Vigil is the suspect in another case. Santa Fe Police Det. Julian Martinez did not return a call.
Vigil is also being sued by the mother of his children and the state Human Services Department for child support for his two children, ages 14 and 11. Court documents state the Department has paid public assistance for the children that Vigil should have paid, and demands he pay child support and health care costs for both children dating back to their birth.
Vigil is currently out of custody but is on electronic monitoring. He declined to comment for this story.