11-30-12 rdr news

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Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY

Vol. 121, No. 286 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday

INSIDE NEWS

MYSTERY BIRD

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Wildlife managers at one of the nation’s premiere birdwatching spots have a mystery on their hands. A strange-looking bird with dark plumage showed up at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge earlier this month to join the tens of thousands ... - PAGE A3

TOP 5 WEB

For The Past 24 Hours

• P’master to Army: Shoo! • Donnell to retire from EDC • Sanchez brings Mobile Office to Roswell • Kiwanis hosts Civic Club Luncheon • Ticket to title tilt on the line at Wool Bowl

INSIDE SPORTS

Campbell pleads guilty; gets probation

SANTA FE (AP) — The former controller of a New Mexico financing agency couldn’t fully explain his actions even as he stood in front of a judge Thursday to plead guilty to forgery and securities fraud for faking a financial audit that went to bond investors earlier this year. Greg Campbell, who was in charge of the accounting operations of the New Mexico Finance Authority for five years before leaving in June, of fered a murky explanation for why he falsified the agency’s financial statements to make it

appear they had been audited. However, he made clear he didn’t pocket any money by faking the financial documents. “I could say it was a time pressure,” Campbell told the judge. “I just don’t know why I honestly did it, because I know I wasn’t going to benefit from it. I did want to make sure that we got our bond sale done.” The financial statements and audit report were necessary for the authority to issue nearly $23 million in bonds in March. The authority uses bond proceeds to provide low-cost

Agencies investigate county murders

• June N. Brown • Paul Harold Baxter • Christopher M. Barker • JoAnn Goodgion • Garnetlu Baxley • Asa Paschall • Earl Wayne Cochran - PAGE A7

HIGH ...76˚ LOW ....35˚

TODAY’S FORECAST

CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8

INDEX

After listening to Campbell, District Judge Stephen Pfeffer placed the 52-yearold father of three on probation for five years. Campbell’s guilty pleas to three felonies could have sent him to prison for six years, but he may end up with a clean record.

If Campbell stays out of trouble and meets the conditions of his probation, the See AUDIT, Page A3

AP Photo

From left, Greg Campbell with his attorney Public Defender Damian Horne during a hearing in 1st District Court, Thursday.

JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER

The Chaves County Sherif f’s Office is attending an inter-jurisdictional meeting with the New Mexico State Police, Eddy and Lea county Sheriff Departments, the FBI and Hobbs Police Department about the two homicides in Chaves County and the shooting of a Lea County sheriff’s deputy, Sgt. Michael Tovar, who was injured while executing a Chaves County search warrant at 61 E. Everglade Road in Hobbs. “We are getting together to pool our resources,” said Chaves County Sheriff Rob Coon. The agencies are all involved in

The Rac-A-Taps bring holiday cheer to the residents of Beehive Homes, Thursday.

Mark Wilson Photo

F&F links to Columbus smugglers

LADY COLTS STOP WARRIORS

OBITUARIES

financing for capital improvements by cities, counties, schools and other New Mexico governments.

’tis the season

Murder scene

TODAY’S

FRIDAY

www.rdrnews.com

See MURDERS, Page A3

Tuesday’s girls basketball game between NMMI and Gateway Christian was the season opener for both teams and despite a lopsided 42-23 score in favor of the Colts, both teams had things they can build off the rest of the season. For NMMI, its building point was its strong inside presence and ball movement, while the Warriors displayed a knack for getting offensive rebounds ... - PAGE B1

November 30, 2012

Mark Wilson Photo

Police investigate the crime scene in the 200 block of East Bland Street, where Arthur Contreras, 22, of Roswell, was killed Wednesday night. The incident occurred at 10:19 p.m. and the police were still investigating the scene at 10:30 a.m., Thursday. According to Roswell Police Department Public Information Liaison Sabrina Morales, detectives have executed search warrants in connection with the murder. Morales noted that the murder is the fifth homicide in Roswell this year, adding, “This was not a random act of violence.”

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — A gun smuggling ring run by former town officials in Columbus had a direct link to targets of the failed Fast and Furious gun-tracking operation run by federal officials in Arizona, records show. Federal prosecutors have sought to distance the Columbus smuggling case from the Arizona investigation, which has been the subject of a two-year congressional investigation and a battle between Republicans and Attorney General Eric Holder. But reports obtained by the Albuquerque Journal show federal agents were aware in early 2010 that members of the Columbus ring had been stopped by authorities a few months earlier with weapons purchased by a suspect involved in the Fast and Furious case. That connection apparently dried up, and Columbus town trustee Blas

“Woody” Gutierrez began buying guns himself and paying others to buy guns for him from a New Mexico dealer, according to reports the Journal obtained from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firear ms and Explosives and U.S. Border Patrol. Gutierrez has pleaded guilty to gun smuggling and other charges but has not been sentenced. In the Fast and Furious case, ATF agents in Phoenix allowed high-powered weapons purchased by straw buyers to “walk” into Mexico and had a failed plan to track and seize them. Of the 2,000 weapons purchased in Arizona, 1,400 were never recovered. Two were found where Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed in a southern Arizona shootout on Dec. 15, 2010. In the New Mexico investigation, federal agents connected more than 200 gun purchases to the Columbus ring and recovered 40

weapons, according to the Journal report. Most of the AK-47-like firearms that were recovered were seized by law enforcement in January and February 2011 shortly before the Columbus indictment. More than a year before the indictments, Gutierrez and another convicted member of the Columbus group, Miguel Carrillo, were stopped by Border Patrol agents driving around town, the documents show. When agents searched their vehicle on Jan. 14, 2010, they found 10 semiautomatic weapons and noted the serial numbers. The agents at that time ran the serial numbers through one law enforcement computer database but came up empty. They also found no criminal arrest warrants for Gutierrez or Carrillo, so the weapons were returned to Gutierrez. Three months later, fedSee GUNS, Page A3

UN votes 138–9 to recognize state of Palestine; US, 8 more object UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations voted overwhelmingly Thursday to recognize a Palestinian state, a long-sought victory for the Palestinians and an embarrassing diplomatic defeat for the United States. The resolution upgrading the Palestinians’ status to a nonmember observer state at the U.N. was approved by a vote of 138-9, with 41 abstentions, in the 193member world body. A Palestinian flag was quickly unfurled on the floor of the General Assembly, behind the Palestinian delegation. In the West Bank city of Ramallah, hundreds crowded into the main square waved Palestinian flags and chanted

“God is great.” Others who had watched the vote on outdoor screens and television sets hugged, honked and set off fireworks before dancing in the streets. Real independence, however, remains an elusive dream until the Palestinians negotiate a peace deal with the Israelis, who warned that the General Assembly action will only delay a lasting solution. Israel still controls the West Bank, east Jerusalem and access to Gaza, and it accused the Palestinians of bypassing negotiations with the campaign to upgrade their U.N. status. The Palestinians still face enormous limitations. They don’t control their borders, airspace or trade, they have

separate and competing governments in Gaza and the West Bank and they have no unified ar my or police. The United States immediately criticized the historic vote. “Today’s unfortunate and counterproductive resolution places further obstacles in the path peace,” U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice said. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called the vote “unfortunate” and “counterproductive.” The United States and Israel voted against recognition, joined by Canada, the Czech Republic, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and See UN, Page A3

AP Photo

Members of the Palestinian delegation react as they surround Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, center, during a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly after a vote on a resolution on the issue of upgrading the Palestinian Authority's status to non-member observer state passed in the United Nations, Thursday.


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