Roswell Daily Record Vol. 124, No. 49 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
February 26, 2015
www.rdrnews.com
THURSDAY
Fraud alleged in ENMU-R EMS program By Jeff Tucker and Dylanne Petros Record Staff Writers The fate of four instructors at Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell hangs in the balance after they were publicly accused Wednesday of fraudulently billing the university for more than $16,000 and not instructing students. Emergency Medical Services instructors Ken Davis, Stacie Nason, Rodney Ray and Kathy Wells appeared before ENMU-R’s Faculty Disciplinary Committee Wednesday for an all-day hearing. Patrick P. Stewart, bureau chief of the Special Investigations Division of
the New Mexico Office of the State Auditor, said the accounting firm of Moss Adams LLP was commissioned by the state auditor to investigate ENMU-R’s EMS program. “No one likes to be accused of anything. I don’t like to be accused of anything,” Stewart said. “A fraud is a fraud.” N a n c y Y o u n g , se n io r manager of Moss Adams, performed a special audit of ENMU-R’s EMS program. Young testified Wednesday that Davis, Nason, Ray and Wells fraudulently billed ENMU-R between Jan. 1, 2011 through May 30, 2014. “The evidence supports they had to know,” Young
testified. “It’s always about money. Fraud and embezzlement is always about money.” Young also testified emergency management and emergency medical services high school and college courses were routinely held at ENMU-R, despite some courses having as few as one student. Young said certificates of attendance were issued to people who didn’t actually attend courses, services were provided to third parties at the expense of ENMU-R and the EMS instructors routinely billed as both the classroom instructor and as a classroom assistant. Young testified Ray, for
example, billed ENMU-R for courses as both the primary instructor and as an assistant. “It’s double-dipping is what he’s doing,” Young testified. “At the end of the day, he’s earning more from the extra pay than he is his base salary.” Young testified Wells and the others also submitted bills for both as an instructor and assistant. “I don’t know how you can be an instructor and other role for 16 hours,” Young said of Wells. “What that equates to is double-dipping. “They shouldn’t have See ENMU-R, Page A3
Dog gone Bill Moffitt Photo
“Project Fetch” Director of Adoptions Sam Blankenship gets a 3-monthold beagle-Chihuahua mix named Admiral ready to board a special van bound for Albuquerque where he’ll be put up for adoption. Admiral is one of 44 dogs and two cats being moved from the Roswell Humane Society Kennels, 703 E. McGaffey St. Blankenship, who is with Animal Humane New Mexico, said that the nonprofit group visits Roswell about once a month to help keep the number of animals down at the humane society. Blankenship said they have a 97 percent adoption rate with their pets in Albuquerque. He added there is a demand for small dogs in Albuquerque, while in Roswell the shelters are challenged finding homes for small dogs because there are so many of them. To contact Animal Humane Society, call 505-938-7914.
Jeff Tucker Photo
Patrick P. Stewart, bureau chief of the Special Investigations Division of the New Mexico Office of the State Auditor, testifies at a disciplinary hearing Wednesday at Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell. ENMU-R Emergency Medical Services instructors Ken Davis, Stacie Nason, Rodney Ray and Kathy Wells, shown in the background, are accused of fraudulently billing the university for several years.
House passes right-to-work bill, wage hike SANTA FE (AP) — Following a debate that took combative turns, the Republican-controlled New Mexico House of Representatives has approved a rightto-work bill which also includes a 50-cent-perhour minimum wage hike. The legislation, which passed 37-30 Wednesday, prohibits requiring workers to join a union or to pay dues as a condition of employment. It would apply to both public and private sectors. The bill now moves to the Senate, where the Democratic leadership in the majority has said it’s united in stopping right-towork legislation. Other states, too, are engaged in the right-towork issue. The Wisconsin Senate continued to debate its own bill late into the night Wednesday. The Missouri Senate is expected to consider legislation after a similar measure passed the House there earlier this month.
Like in previous committee hearings on the contentious bill, lawmakers from both parties clashed on the benefits of having New Mexico join 24 other states with right-to-work laws. Republicans said the bill would bring more businesses to New Mexico. Democrats countered there were few examples of those clamoring to set up shop here if the law is implemented. Builders, business associations and chambers of commerce leaders have supported the measure, saying it will bring much-needed jobs to the state. Labor and education union leaders and workers have characterized the legislation as misguided and misnamed, contending it will hurt workers by bringing down wages and undermining unions. The bill is among the handful of hot-button issues that have quickly revealed partisan fisSee BILL, Page A3
NM man settles solitary Roswell High class ring ends up in Kansas confinement fed lawsuit
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — A New Mexico man allegedly kept in filthy solitary confinement conditions and reportedly denied proper health care while in jail has settled his federal lawsuit for $2.9 million, according to court documents. The agreement filed in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque said Otero County and Jerome Gonzales, 51, would settle the case and the southern New Mexico county would admit no wrongdoing. But Matthew Coyte, the attorney for Gonzales, said his client suffered from mental illness and was not given proper treatment while in an Otero County isolated cell. Gonzales also was forced to use the restroom in a small drainage space in front of guards who watched him, Coyte said. According to the lawsuit, Gonzales was placed in solitary confinement in February 2012 following an arrest for driving with a suspended license. Court documents said county officials let Gonzales’ men-
tal state deteriorate, leading him to strip naked and cover himself in feces during his nearly threemonth stint in solitary confinement. “It’s an outrageous violation of contemporary standards of human decency,” Coyte said. “It was deplorable.” Otero County Commission Chairman Ronny Rardin did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press. Coyte said Gonzales was permanently disabled from his experience and now needs the care of his sister for everyday activities. The lawsuit comes after a number of other high-profile lawsuits by former inmates, which raised concerns about jail and prison conditions in New Mexico. In 2013, Dona Ana County reached a $15.5 million settlement in a case involving a man who was held in solitary confinement for two years without a trial. The inmate man took out his own tooth during his confinement, according to the lawsuit. Today’s Forecast
HIGH 39 LOW 20
By Dylanne Petros Record Staff Writer
A Roswell High School class ring from 1961 has ended up in Kansas, and the possessor is looking for the original owner. Coleen Wenger, of Topeka, came into the possession of the class ring after a friend unexpectedly passed away a few years ago. “We were her executers,” Wenger said. “We found it … on her kitchen table like she was working on it.” Wenger said she believes her friend knew who the owner of the ring is because she lived in Roswell in the 1960s, as she was married to someone in the Air Force at the time. The ring, Wenger said, looks like a man’s ring that has been cut down and resized to fit a woman’s finger. “It’s a round stone (that’s) just really big. Then the ring itself is really small,” she said. When the band was
Courtesy Photos
resized, Wenger says she believes it cut through the initials on the band because there are only two initials instead of the usual three. Wenger has tried to contact Roswell High School without any luck on finding the owner. “I don’t think they were (concerned),” she said. “They just kind of
said, ‘Well, we looked through the yearbook and didn’t really see anything.’”
Index
Today’s Obituaries Page A6
• Robbie Gay AshbrookBenzinger • Roma Louise Wilcke
• Billy “Bill” Callaway Sr. • Leonor R. Baca
She has also turned to Facebook to try and find the owner through reunion groups. “I have contacted their class … but not everybody is part of that group,” Wenger said. A couple of people from the Facebook group did contact Wenger about the ring, though. “I didn’t tell them what the initial was,” she said. Wenger said when people contacted her about the ring they told her their initials but nobody’s initials matched the ring she had. For more information on the ring, people may contact Wenger at ecwenger@cox.net. Record Staff Writer Dylanne Petros may be contacted at 575-6227710, ext. 307, or at vistas@rdrnews.com.
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Lotteries. ............A2
Weather...............A8