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Friday, October 30, 2009
Around New Mexico
VIN Switches Investigated
An employee at a state Division of Motor Vehicles fee agent is under investigation for allegedly switching vehicle identification numbers on stolen vehicles, according to the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department.
Sheriff's investigators served a search warrant on the New Mexico Title and Registration Services Inc., 5917 Lomas NE. The Sheriff's Department received information from the Drug Enforcement Administration that a female employee at the business was replacing vehicle identification numbers on stolen vehicles out of Arizona, sheriff's detective Bill Webb said Thursday.
Four stolen vehicles — a Cadillac Escalade, a Chevrolet Corvette, Chrysler 300 and a Dodge Dakota — have been returned to their owners, which include two rental car companies, Webb said.
The employee would allegedly duplicate vehicle identification numbers from vehicles in the eastern United States and register the vehicles in New Mexico.
Appeal: Cult Head's Trial Flawed
SANTA FE — The leader of a religious cult convicted of sexual misconduct with two teenagers says his prosecution and trial were flawed.
Wayne Bent's lawyer has told the state Court of Appeals that the grand jury that indicted him was meeting improperly and wasn't allowed to hear important evidence.
John McCall says the trial judge wrongly limited the trial's duration and the number of defense witnesses and allowed prejudicial questioning of Bent. And he contends the instructions given to the jury that convicted Bent were flawed.
McCall's written brief says Bent's trial lawyer should have used a religious freedom defense because the touching was part of a healing ritual.
Bent is in prison for criminal sexual contact of a minor and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
2 Bodies Found on Reservation
SHIPROCK — Investigators are looking into the discovery of two bodies found this week on the Navajo Nation in New Mexico, but FBI agents say the deaths are not believed to be related.
One body was recovered from an irrigation ditch near Fruitland and the other at the base of a 150-foot cliff northeast of Shiprock.
Tribal employees found the body of 22-year-old Jeremy Johnson Bee of Lower Fruitland in the ditch. Investigators said Bee's family had been searching for him since Tuesday.
The body found near the cliff was not immediately identifiable. Authorities believe it had been there for several weeks.
Autopsies were planned in both cases. It is unclear in both cases whether foul play was involved.
3 Accused of Illegal Games
LAS CRUCES — State Police arrested three men for running illegal high-stakes poker games in Las Cruces.
State Police Lt. Roman Jimenez said the men were arrested Wednesday night and booked on a felony charge of conspiracy to commit commercial gambling and a misdemeanor charge of gambling.
Jimenez said the alleged high-stakes poker games took place all night and prompted complaints from neighbors of late-night disturbance and difficulty parking.
The men are identified as 32-year-old William P. Barela, 43-year-old William B. Fox and 51-year-old Juan P. Barela.
Authorities said the men could face up to a year in jail and fines if convicted of the felony charge.
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