By Rene Romo
Albuquerque Journal
LAS CRUCES, NM — The Columbus Police Department’s participation in a federal grant program aimed at enhancing border security will be terminated April 22 by the Luna County Sheriff’s Office over concerns about how funds have been used.
The interim Columbus police chief was given a 30-day notice of the termination last week by Luna County Sheriff Raymond Cobos.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management conducted an on-site audit of the Columbus Police Department’s 2010 reimbursements through the federal grant program.
Under a memorandum of understanding with the sheriff’s office, Columbus was to receive a total of $156,839 in federal funds over a three year period ending Sept. 30, 2012. At the time the termination notice was sent, the village was still eligible to receive $105,726 in Operation Stonegarden funds to pay for overtime, fuel reimbursement and equipment purchases for patrols to enhance border security.
Police participation in the program was suspended last fall after “improprieties in expenditures,” Cobos wrote in the March 23 termination notice.
Cobos said he became concerned after learning village Police Chief Angelo Vega was paid overtime from Stonegarden funds. Cobos said a police chief, typically a salaried employee, is not eligible for overtime. The Columbus police chief, the village clerk said, is paid an hourly wage.
After the initial concerns were raised, Columbus Mayor Eddie Espinoza informed the sheriff that the police chief may have received payments for overtime he did not work, Cobos said Wednesday.
Vega, Espinoza and village trustee Blas Gutierrez were among 11 people arrested March 10 in a cross-border, gun smuggling case.
On Nov. 22, Espinoza placed Vega and a sergeant, the only police staff tasked with administering Stonegarden funds, on administrative leave. Within a week, the sheriff’s office confiscated a Columbus police vehicle, a 2010 Dodge Ram, bought with Stonegarden funds. No Columbus reimbursement requests have been processed since September, Cobos said.
In late November, Cobos informed Espinoza that village participation in Stonegarden would remain suspended until the police department had been fully audited and “any findings corrected.” Cobos said village officials never responded.
“Clearly, recent events involving elected officials and certain members of the Village of Columbus Police Department have jeopardized the continuation of this award and the mission of Stonegarden,” Cobos wrote the three remaining Columbus trustees. “Not only has the ability of the Village of Columbus, and specifically the ... Police Department, to function been compromised, but in fact, the wisdom of allowing continued access and use of such funds is in serious doubt.”
Copyright 2011 Albuquerque Journal