Witness says UNM officials struggled to reconcile purchases made by former athletics employee

University of New Mexico officials began the “extremely arduous” task of reconciling Cody Hopkins’ expenditures with transaction records shortly after he stepped down as director of basketball operations in December 2015, a former finance officer testified Tuesday at Hopkins’ trial.

Hopkins, 41, is charged with a single count of embezzlement for allegedly using $63,000 in university funds for his own use while working for the Lobo men’s basketball team. Most of the funds allegedly involved cash withdrawals from ATMs using a university-issued credit card.

Prosecutors earlier last week dismissed five felony counts of forgery under $2,500 that were listed in Hopkins’ indictment, Assistant Attorney General Andrew Coffing said Tuesday.

Those charges allege Hopkins made or falsified receipts from a variety of organizations. Coffing declined to say why the charges were dismissed.

Former Lobos head coach Craig Neal, Hopkins’ former boss, will not be called to testify in the 2nd Judicial District Court trial, Coffing said. Neal, now an assistant coach in Nevada, had been included on the state’s witness list.

Michael Marcelli, former chief financial officer for UNM Athletics, testified Tuesday that by late 2015, Hopkins was “months behind” in reconciling purchases made with his university-issued credit card with receipts required to justify the expenditures.

After Hopkins stepped down in December 2015, Marcelli and another finance official retrieved receipts and financial records from Hopkins’ office in an attempt to reconcile expenditures made with his UNM purchasing card.

“It was extremely arduous,” Marcelli said of the reconciliation process. “It became our top priority.” Marcelli said he also briefed the UNM Board of Regents about the work in May 2016.

The process involved making calls to businesses and, in some cases, making in-person visits in an attempt to verify the purchases, he said.

Marcelli said ultimately they were able to reconcile “tens of thousands of dollars” in expenditures. However, “some things we were not able to recover,” amounting to thousands of dollars, he told jurors.

Hopkins denies stealing or embezzling money from UNM, his attorney, Paul Kennedy, said in opening statements Monday.

Hopkins simply became overwhelmed by the volume of record-keeping involved and “fell behind on bringing in his vouchers or justifying his receipts,” Kennedy said.

Hopkins was 33 at the time and holding down his “first big job,” Kennedy told jurors.

Coffing told jurors Monday that Hopkins used UNM funds to gamble at Sandia Resort & Casino.

“Mr. Hopkins gambled at Sandia Casino in cash amounts, in and around the same amount that he had just previously taken out of the P-card account,” Coffing told jurors.