SILVER CITY — A Silver City Post Office letter carrier who stole more than $5,000 from the union she was a member and treasurer of was approved for pre-prosecution diversion, meaning the court case against her has been stopped and she will not be prosecuted for her crime if she stays out of trouble for the next two years.
Kasey McCalmon, 35, a letter carrier with the Silver City Post Office since 2004, was secretary-treasurer of the National Association of Letter Carriers, Branch 1509 union from January 2008 to January 2010, court documents show. Between Feb. 24, 2009 and Jan. 4, 2010, McCalmon allegedly transferred different amounts of money on a daily, weekly or monthly basis from the Union Branch Account and used the money for her personal use and to pay expenses of a restaurant she owned with her husband, according to court records.
The total amount embezzled was $5,330.24. A criminal complaint was filed against her in Silver City Magistrate Court on Feb. 22, 2011, on the charge of embezzlement, a third-degree felony. On June 10, 2011, McCalmon waived her right to a preliminary hearing in Silver City District Court and applied for pre-prosecution diversion.
According to state statutes, pre-prosecution diversion is designed to remove those “who are most amenable to rehabilitation and least likely to commit future offenses” from the criminal justice system.
To be eligible for pre-prosecution diversion, a defendant must not have a prior felony conviction for a violent crime and no prior felony convictions for any crime for the previous 10 years; the crime must be non-violent and the defendant must not have been admitted into a similar program for the previous 10 years; and if the client was on probation for a prior offense they must not have had their probation revoked.
When a defendant is accepted into the program, District Attorney Mary Lynn Newell said, they must admit guilt and give a full written confession in the form of a Statement of Admission, which can later be used against them in the event their status is revoked. They must also waive the statute of limitations on their crime, so that the case can be brought back to court even if the time limits have expired.
Other requirements of the program include not drinking alcohol and submitting to random urinalysis tests at the request of the pre-prosecution director, according to the terms and conditions of the program, which Newell said are standard for anyone accepted into the program. They also must perform 100 hours of community service. And, she will be expected to participate in a restorative justice program, during which she will meet with a mediator and the victims in the case, so that they can have their voices heard.
“The mediation is to allow the victims to be heard about how they feel about what happened to them and so that the offender can understand and appreciate the harm they caused,” Newell said.
If the defendant successfully completes the 24-month program, the criminal case against them is dropped.
Pre-prosecution diversion programs are mandated by the state, Newell said — every district attorney’s office must have one — and although not frequently used, she said the Legislature has been encouraging district attorneys around the state to expand their use of the program.
In the Sixth Judicial District that Newell oversees, and which includes Grant, Luna and Hidalgo counties, Newell said between 20 and 40 people are on pre-prosecution diversion in any given year.
“It’s an honor and privilege and its not lightly given,” Newell said of acceptance into the program. “If people screw up we can take them back to court and revoke it.”
Only about 10 — or less than a third of the people approved for the program — get revoked, she said.
Despite McCalmon having pleaded guilty to a charge of issuing worthless checks in June 2009, then under the name Kasey Kerr, she was approved for the pre-prosecution diversion program.
In the 2009 case, McCalmon was initially charged with one count of issuing a worthless check for more than $25, a fourth-degree felony, in Silver City Magistrate Court for writing a bad check to Circle Heart in the amount of $206.86 on Sept. 25, 2007. But that charge was dismissed by the prosecutor and McCalmon was allowed to plead guilty to the lesser charge of issuing a worthless check under $25, a petty misdemeanor. She received a deferred sentence in that case with 30 days of unsupervised probation and paid restitution of $251.86.
Her probation in that case ended on July 18, 2009.
Newell said she was aware that McCalmon was not a first-time offender.
Newell also said the victims in the embezzlement case — the other members of the union — were consulted, and agreed to McCalmon’s acceptance into the pre-prosecution diversion program.
But at least one member of the seven-member union, who did not wish to be identified, said that they felt that McCalmon was not being held accountable for her actions.
Ezquiel “Zeke” Gonzales, president of the union from which McCalmon embezzled the money, did not return phone calls to the Sun-News on Thursday to inquire if the union did agree to the deal.
The District Attorney’s Office said McCalmon did pay the money back, but no records were available to verify that, although Newell’s office said a remaining balance of $600 was recently paid back.
McCalmon is still employed by the Post Office but has been out on medical leave since Oct. 6, Postmaster Joe Lucero said Thursday.
Barbara Wood, a customer relations coordinator for the Post Office in Albuquerque, told the Sun-News in June that McCalmon was paid a salary between $43,313 and $48,523 annually, and was not placed on administrative leave at any time during the investigation into the charges against her and did not face any administrative discipline by the post office.
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Distributed by MCT Information Services
