Uh Oh: Man Indicted in Treasurer Probe Held Fundraiser for Chavez

From KOB-TV:

One of the men who has already pleaded guilty in the Robert Vigil extortion case recently staged a fundraiser at his Albuquerque home for Mayor Martin Chavez.

Angelo Garcia’s fundraiser on August 15th took place three weeks after he had entered guilty pleas and admitted to being the middleman in a kickback scheme.

The Albuquerque Tribune chimes in with more info on this story.

Of course this proves nothing, given that the treasurer's office indictments hadn't yet been unsealed when this fundraiser took place. However, it seems clear that certain fundraising and campaign donation circles are rather messy here in New Mexico. It should also be kept in mind that, according to the Tribune article:

[Angelo] Garcia  is also under indictment in relation to a securities fraud investigation by the state which alleges he and two associates bilked senior citizens out of nearly $1 million for investments in a Santa Fe real estate project that was never completed. 

Just on that basis, you'd think Mayor Chavez would steer clear of any fundraisers hosted at Garcia's house, wouldn't you? Then again, this is a Mayor who benefited early in his administration from ABQPAC, which funneled "donations" from city employers and contractors to the Mayor to cover things like his travel and cell phone expenses. Marty ended up having to pay most of the money back to contributors after being chastized by the ethics board. I guess you could say he doesn't pay too much attention to the particulars of ethical standards when he's building huge blocs of money to serve himself or his mayoral campaign. "Follow the money" is always good advice.