ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – After years of investigations and court hearings, one of New Mexico’s biggest public corruption cases is finally headed to trial. But before former state representative Sheryl Williams Stapleton faces a federal jury next week, she was back in state court on Thursday.
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Former state representative and longtime Albuquerque Public Schools’ administrator, Sheryl Williams Stapleton, is now just days away from her federal criminal trial. On Monday, the 68-year-old is expected to stand trial on allegations that she and her co-defendant, Joseph Johnson, carried out a fraud scheme spanning eight years. Investigators found that Williams Stapleton used Johnson’s education software company, Robotics Management Learning Systems, to divert nearly $2.5 million intended for APS learning programs, while skimming over a million dollars for her own personal benefit, like a home remodeling project, her family’s restaurant, cars, and lavish vacations.
Before the federal charges were filed in 2024, Williams Stapleton was charged at the state level in 2021; her attorney said the legal complexity of the two separate cases is what led to the lengthy trial delay. “Ms. Williams is facing two trials, and the timeline with respect to trying the federal case first is paramount before a state case is ensued,” said attorney Ahmad Assad…