Convicted of stealing $600,000-plus from Congregation Albert, former employee faces big prison time

A former employee of Congregation Albert was found guilty by a jury Friday of eight felonies for stealing more than $600,000 from the Albuquerque synagogue from 2016 to 2019, court records show.

Crystal Lucero, 40, faces up to 48 years in prison, according to the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office, which prosecuted the case.

Lucero’s purchases with Congregation Albert funds included a copy of Adolf Hitler’s autobiography, “Mein Kampf,” and other personal items, the Attorney General’s Office said Friday in a written statement.

The 2nd Judicial District Court jury found Crystal Lucero, 40, guilty of forgery, larceny, embezzlement, two counts of fraudulent use of a credit card and three counts of tax evasion, court records show.

A grand jury indictment filed in April 2022 accused Lucero of taking $643,861 in money or checks belonging to the synagogue from August 2016 to June 2019.

Lucero was charged with embezzlement for converting nearly $60,000 from Congregation Albert to her own bank accounts through unauthorized credit card purchases, according to the indictment.

“Today’s verdict underscores my office’s commitment to pursue justice against sophisticated white-collar criminals who, in this case, stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from hundreds of New Mexicans,” Attorney General Raúl Torrez said in the statement.

“Those that engage in predatory financial schemes against New Mexico’s historic communities of faith and other non-profit organizations will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he said.

The allegations in the indictment are similar to those cited in a lawsuit Congregation Albert filed against Lucero in 2019.

The lawsuit alleged Lucero “used at least two credit cards issued to the Congregation to make cash withdrawals and to purchase items for her personal use, including gambling,” then used synagogue funds to pay the credit card charges.

In July 2020, 2nd Judicial District Judge Denise Barela Shepherd ordered Lucero to pay nearly $750,000 to Congregation Albert to resolve the lawsuit, court records show.

Lucero was employed by Congregation Albert as a bookkeeper from June 2016 to April 2017, and as acting administrator from May 2017 until her employment ended in June 2019, according to the suit.