By RUTH HEIDE

ALAMOSA — More details emerged this week on the Alamosa Housing Authority embezzlement case involving former director Patricia Ann Martinez, 62, who now resides in Fort Collins.

On Wednesday, Martinez pleaded guilty to embezzlement of $5,000 during a one-year period and unlawful financial transaction (money laundering.)

In the plea agreement she actually admitted to taking more than $1 million over a period of time while she directed the housing authority. Martinez was director from 1989 to 2007 when she was placed on leave and resigned as a result of the embezzlement investigation.

The embezzlement period given in the plea agreement was 1998 to 2007, with a restitution grant total of $1,275,957. The crimes involved more than 700 checks from the housing authority’s operating account paid to people, and one business, who were not entitled to the money.

Martinez agreed to cooperate with federal investigators regarding her case as well as any other cases that might result from this investigation.

A second housing authority staffer, Presiliano Bonificio Romero, was recently charged with embezzlement.

Martinez’s plea agreement speaks about others involved either unknowingly or intentionally but does not identify them by name. Martinez admitted to writing embezzlement checks to her son, sister, nephew, husbands of two housing authority employees, father, mother, son, sister and friend of another housing authority employee, an Alamosa business operator and a business owned by a housing authority employee.

Martinez “arranged for much of the money to be diverted to herself,” the plea agreement stated. “At least one of the payees kept some of the proceeds of the checks and converted the money to his own use and benefit.”

In the plea agreement, Martinez’s sister was not identified by name but mentioned as someone with whom Martinez arranged to convert housing authority funds for herself (Martinez) on at least four occasions through a roundabout way. Martinez would deliver housing authority checks to her sister who would deposit them in her bank account, then write checks, containing false entries such as “furniture,” for that same amount to Martinez’s son. Martinez would deposit her sister’s checks into her son’s account and covert the money for herself.

In a similar way Martinez and one of the housing authority employees worked out a system where Martinez would write checks to the employee’s parents, son, sister, friend and business and the employee arranged to cash the checks and give the money to Martinez. The employee also kept some of the money. The employee’s parents and son were unaware, according to the plea agreement.

Martinez also laundered money through an unnamed Alamosa businessman who had earlier performed some work for the authority. Martinez gave him housing authority checks, he cashed them and gave the money to her, and Martinez gave him part of the money for his efforts.

According to Martinez, she worked out similar deals with two other housing authority employees after they found out what she was doing. She would give housing authority checks to the employees’ husbands.

In addition, Martinez admitted to the court she had written numerous housing authority checks totaling more than $227,000 to her nephew even though he was not entitled to housing authority funds. The nephew cashed many of the checks and gave the money to Martinez. He also deposited some of the checks into his own bank account and his son’s bank account.

When initially questioned by Alamosa police in October of 2007, Martinez claimed her nephew had performed the work for which he had been paid, but when the nephew was questioned, he admitted taking checks from Martinez for services he had not provided. He also told authorities Martinez told him to lie to the police and say he had worked for the housing authority.

When immediately confronted with the nephew’s statements, Martinez then admitted she had participated in embezzlement activity with the nephew and used the money to gamble.

Martinez also initially denied that large deposits in her bank account had come from housing authority funds but said she had routinely cashed checks at casinos in amounts greater than her bank account balance and then deposited proceeds into her account before the checks cleared so she could misrepresent to tax authorities that the checks cashed at the casinos represented money lost gambling.

Martinez also stole money from the housing authority by way of her son, although the plea agreement information stated her son was not aware she was using his name and bank account to embezzle money from the housing authority.

In addition, Martinez often had board members sign blank checks. “These board members often signed blank checks, relying on Martinez’s representations that the checks would be used for legitimate purposes,” the plea agreement stated.

Martinez’s sentence will be computed using several factors including her role of leadership in the housing authority, abuse of her position of trust and the large amount of money involved (more than $1 million), which factored against her, as well as her lack of criminal history, which would be a factor in her favor.

The possible sentencing range, given all those factors, is 78 to 175 months (6.5-14.5 years.)