AG Torrez (Moore, ABQ Journal)

Attorney General Raul Torrez appears to be all-in as he tangles with a rogue Board of Regents and an arrogant, in-your-face Western New Mexico University president who is accused of absconding with nearly $2 million in taxpayer money while making state government look feckless and foolish.

If the AG's lawuit to force disgraced WNMU President Joe Shepard from spending his absurd and outrageous $1.9 million buyout covertly awarded by the Regents (after he resigned effective January 15) comes up empty and the fight stops there, the attorney general and the state will not only look feckless but easy targets for future scammers dressed in suits and sporting the ethics of your local fentanyl dealer. 

Shepard met his end after the State Auditor determined $360,000 of his spending (approved by the Regents) violated university policy. Torrez is in court today to press his case for slapping a freeze on Shepard from spending that buyout as the legal drama plays out. But Shepard has dug in, using his arrogance and his attorney as a shield. The rogue Regents are mostly gone after MLG lowered the boom. 

If the court does not halt the blatant rip-off of taxpayer money, what can? Well, the courts. But Torrez could be forced to seek a criminal indictment of Shepard who along with Valerie Plame--his wife and former CIA spy turned celebrity--burned through WNMU's treasury as they toured exotic locations around the world and stocked up on high-end furniture.

Shepard has cards to play. His attorney says he did nothing illegal in accepting the buyout out and neither did the Regents even if both are openly wading in a moral cesspool. 

But Shepard's behavior prior to his outrageous buyout seems fair game for an indictment and possibly as leverage to get him to return the cash. Here's where that stands:

It’s also unclear at this point whether Torrez’s actions end with the civil suit filed (to freeze Shepherd's payout.) When asked whether he is gathering evidence for a criminal case, Torrez said he wants other ongoing probes, including those from the State Ethics Commission and the Office of the State Auditor, to properly conclude. But he made clear that a criminal case is still a potential outcome. “We haven’t ruled that out as a possibility,” Torrez said. “We are going to wait for the auditor’s work to be completed … that will be the roadmap for how that happens.”

The legal beagles point to the legal complications in pursuing a criminal case but Torrez has opened the door and if need be must walk through it for the future credibility of his office, the state and the taxpayers who Shepard and his femme fatale are determined to make look like a ship of fools. 

This is the Home of New Mexico Politics.