Williams Stapleton pleads not guilty, is released pending trial

Sheryl Williams Stapleton and a Virginia man each pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a raft of felony charges alleging they misused federal funds intended for vocational programs at Albuquerque Public Schools.

For Stapleton, a former state House majority leader and APS official, her initial appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque marked her first public appearance since she was indicted on state charges in September 2021.

Stapleton pleaded not guilty to 29 federal charges, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, fraud and multiple counts of bribery and money laundering.

She stood dressed in a dark pant suit beside her attorney, Ahmad Assed, who entered the not-guilty plea on her behalf.

“Yes, I do, your honor,” Stapleton, 66, replied when U.S. Magistrate Judge John Robbenhaar asked if she understood the charges against her.

She and Assed declined to comment after the brief hearing.

Minutes later, her co-defendant, Joseph Johnson, 72, of Chantilly, Virginia, pleaded not guilty to 28 felony charges.

Robbenhaar ordered Stapleton and Johnson released on their own recognizance. They were ordered to surrender their passports and are prohibited from possessing firearms or opening new lines of credit without permission from federal pretrial services.

Johnson and his attorney, Marc Lowry, also declined to comment after the hearing.

Johnson and Stapleton were indicted by a federal grand jury on March 26. Each is charged with five counts of bribery, 12 counts of mail fraud, nine counts of money laundering and a single count each of conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

In addition, Stapleton is charged with a single count of fraud for allegedly making false statements to the Internal Revenue Service on her 2015 federal income tax return.

Johnson is the owner of Robotics Management Learning Systems LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based company at the center of both state and federal charges.

Johnson, identified in court records as a “close friend” of Stapleton‘s, does not face state charges, and his appearance Tuesday apparently marks his first time in a New Mexico courtroom.

Johnson told federal investigators he met Stapleton decades ago when they were students at New Mexico State University, court records show.

Stapleton was indicted in 2021 on 26 state felony and two misdemeanor counts for her alleged role in routing money meant for vocational education at APS to businesses and charities in which she had an interest.

Stapleton’s case in state district court remains unresolved. A hearing in that case is scheduled for April 23, but no trial date is set.

An Albuquerque Democrat, Stapleton represented House District 19, an area east of the University of New Mexico, since she was first elected in 1994. She resigned from the House two days after search warrants were served at her home on July 28, 2021.

The federal indictment alleges that from 2013 to 2021, APS paid $3,251,550 to Robotics, the indictment says. Most of that — $2,518,550 — came from federal funds intended for career-technical education programs.

Johnson provided blank checks for Robotics’ checking account to Stapleton, who in turn wrote around 233 checks totaling $1,152,506 “for her own benefit,” the indictment alleges.

That figure accounts for more than a third of the money APS paid to Robotics, the indictment says.