Corruption charges dismissed against former Secretary of State
Posted at: 11/15/2012 6:20 PM
By: Chris Ramirez, KOB Eyewitness News 4
A judge dismissed all corruption charges against former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil Giron.
She is in the clear after a state judge ruled that repeated delays in her case violated her rights to a speedy trial.
"Thank you lord for finally giving some closure to this," Vigil Giron told KOB Eyewitness News 4.
In 2009, a state grand jury indicted Vigil Giron. She faced charges following an investigation by the attorney general’s office into what she did with millions of dollars in taxpayer money for a voter education campaign.
Vigil Giron went hundreds of thousands over budget on the campaign. That led to accusations of fraud, embezzlement, money laundering and receiving kickbacks.
There have been three years worth of delays which ultimately led to Judge Reed Sheppard dismissing the case.
Vigil Giron says she feel like she was the one victimized by the process.
“The grand jury process needs to be revisited in New Mexico because of its unfair treatment of individuals like myself,” Vigil Giron said. “The attorney general's office only gave half the information to the grand jury so consequently the grand jury was duped."
The prosecutor in the case can still appeal the judge’s dismissal.
Vigil Giron is off to a new start in more ways than one. We learned she now goes by Rebecca Vigil Gutierrez. She recently re-married.
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