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Trial for former APS employee and majority NM House leader delayed until next year
Sheryl Williams Stapleton, a former state House majority leader and Albuquerque Public Schools employee, walks with her attorney Ahmad Assed after making her first appearance in U.S. District Court at the Pete V. Domenici U.S. Courthouse in Downtown Albuquerque in April 2024.
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The trial for former New Mexico House majority leader and Albuquerque Public Schools staffer Sheryl Williams Stapleton has been delayed until March 2026.
The trial was slated to begin Tuesday; however, a federal judge earlier this month approved a motion to continue it for 182 days.
Stapleton resigned from office amid a criminal investigation in 2021. Three years later, the U.S. Attorney’s Office brought charges against her and a co-defendant, Joseph Johnson, of “13 counts of mail fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and five counts each of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds.”
The charges allege that Stapleton used her APS position, as the director of career and technical education, to send money to Robotics Management Learning Systems, a company owned by Johnson.
The case was supposed to begin Sept. 30. Still, the defendants asked for additional time to “engage in plea negotiations” and review “discovery from the United States” — the plaintiff in the case.
U.S. District Court Judge for the District of New Mexico James O. Browning granted the motion to delay the case until March 2026. Since he announced his retirement effective February 2026 earlier this year, his successor will preside over the case.
Browning wrote in a Sept. 9 order that Stapleton’s attorney, Ryan Villa, needs additional time to confer with Johnson’s attorney, Nichole Moss, “regarding a possible joint defense and prepare that defense for trial.” Both defendants “will have additional time to engage in plea negotiations independently and as part of a global plea resolution and prepare for trial if necessary,” Browning wrote.
Neither Villa nor Moss immediately responded Monday to phone messages seeking comment.
