Sheryl Williams Stapleton, a former high-ranking Democratic legislator in New Mexico, entered a guilty plea to state charges including fraud and money laundering during a hearing Friday. The charges relate to allegations that she diverted millions of dollars designated for vocational education programs in Albuquerque Public Schools to businesses and charitable organizations in which she held interests.
Williams Stapleton’s plea change came three weeks after a federal jury found her guilty on dozens of comparable charges. Prosecutors had characterized the conduct as part of a scheme spanning multiple years. The state-level guilty plea resulted in the dismissal of all but four charges, with the agreement specifying a 10 1/2-year prison sentence and restitution exceeding $1.8 million.
According to federal prosecutors, the school district transferred more than $3 million to Robotics Management Learning Systems LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based company central to both the state and federal cases. A significant portion of these funds originated from federal allocations for vocational education. As the school district’s career and technical education director, Williams Stapleton allegedly ensured that program funds flowed to Robotics, which was owned by her associate Joseph Johnson, who also faced federal charges as her co-defendant.
Williams Stapleton was accused of facilitating the company’s invoices through procurement procedures, while Johnson allegedly provided blank checks to her. During federal trial proceedings, prosecutors presented evidence indicating that both Williams Stapleton and Johnson failed to report thousands of dollars in Robotics payments on their federal income tax returns. A jury also convicted Johnson in the federal case.
Williams Stapleton, a former state House majority leader and Albuquerque Public Schools administrator first elected in 1994, resigned from the House two days after search warrants were executed at her residence in summer 2021. The school district terminated her employment concurrently. Both Williams Stapleton and Johnson have not yet been sentenced on their federal convictions, and their legal representatives have previously announced plans to appeal the federal verdicts.
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