Former Lobos basketball employee testifies to heavy drinking, depression

Cody Hopkins wept at times Thursday as he told jurors that he descended into heavy drinking, gambling and “self-loathing” prior to his dismissal in 2015 as director of basketball operations at the University of New Mexico.

Hopkins, 41, testified in his own defense on the fourth day of his trial on a single count of embezzlement for allegedly taking $63,000 in UNM funds for his own use, mostly in the form of cash withdrawals from ATMs. Closing arguments are likely to take place Friday.

“I was feeling sorry for myself,” Hopkins said. He became increasingly depressed after he was passed over for an assistant coaching job with the Lobos, he said. “I was just going dark places,” he said.

Hopkins also said his nightly drinking often took him to the bar at Sandia Resort & Casino, where prosecutors allege he racked up thousands of dollars in gambling losses while making multiple cash withdrawals using his UNM-issued credit card.

Hopkins said he and then-head coach Craig Neal agreed to part ways in early December 2015 after Hopkins missed a bus to the airport in Chicago after an all-night drinking binge.

“I felt, I’m done,” he recalled telling Neal. “I don’t want to do this anymore.”

Also Thursday, an accountant told jurors that Hopkins racked up $27,000 in gambling losses in July and August 2017 based on Sandia casino records obtained by the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office, which is prosecuting the case.

Edward Street, a forensic accountant hired by the AG’s office, told jurors that Hopkins repeatedly made cash withdrawals using his UNM purchasing card, or P-card, often at ATMs a short driving distance from Sandia Resort & Casino.

Hopkins told jurors that his job required him to make large cash withdrawals with his P-card to pay expenses for players and to provide cash to assistant coaches, who did not have P-cards.

This became an issue in July 2015 when assistant coaches traveled on scouting trips as far away as Greece and Australia. Hopkins told jurors a supervisor instructed him to withdraw $12,000 in cash to front money to assistant coaches for travel expenses.

“There was no pre-approval process,” Hopkins told jurors. “I needed it and we did so much on the fly. I was keeping balance in my head of what was there and what was not.”

Prosecutors also allege that Hopkins made cash withdrawals from UNM accounts and deposited them into his personal Wells Fargo account. Hopkins told jurors Thursday that he was instructed to do so by his superiors.

The distinction became “blurred” between UNM funds and Hopkins’ money, he testified.

“It really got to the point where I didn’t know what was mine and what wasn’t,” he said.

Edward Street, a forensic accountant, testified Wednesday and Thursday that Hopkins’ withdrawal of cash advances coincided with activity on Hopkins’ member card at Sandia Casino.

Sandia records showed Hopkins bought thousands of dollars in “chips, tokens and other gambling instruments,” sometimes over a period of two or three days, in 2015, Street said.

Street cited five periods in July and August 2015 when Hopkins made multiple cash withdrawals from ATM machines using the P-card that correlated with activity on Hopkins’ member card at Sandia Resort & Casino.

Assistant Attorney General Andrew Coffing asked Hopkins to explain specific withdrawals that corresponded closely with his gambling activity at Sandia casino.

“I don’t recall what’s happening,” Hopkins responded. “I don’t recall what my reasoning was.”