New Mexico outfitter Adrian Romero and his wife, Henrietta, each were sentenced to 10 years in prison for what they did to some hunters between 2002 and 2005. The pair manufactured bogus big game tags, forged hunter's signatures on documents, conducted illegal hunts and even evaded state taxes on the $244,000 they made during the two years. In addition to the 10 years in prison, each must serve five years of probation, pay restitution to the 28 hunters they defrauded in the case. Also, the state tax office has to be paid the taxes the Romeros screwed the state out of, but no mention was made to any federal taxes. The state game and fish department is calling it one of the state's biggest cases involving New Mexico's wildlife. The Romeros were indicted in January 2006 on 66 charges stemming from their business, Non-Typical Outfitters. In October the pair pleaded guilty in a plea bargain agreement to 10 felony charges. The charges included racketeering, forgery, tax evasion and embezzlement. The Cibola County District Court waited from October 2006 until Sept. 21, 2007, to sentence the couple. I honestly thought that the judicial system in Cibola County would let them completely slide, but I was wrong. Seeing that they got 10 years in prison each shocked me. At least they did get some time. They will probablly spend a couple of years in prison each before being released on probation because rarely does any conviction serve the full amount of time in prison. I covered the Romero investigation when I was a reporter based in Grants. Tom

Cool! At least they caught them and they got some punishment. The jail time needs to be served in full as far as I am concerned. Monetary punishment doesn't mean much any more.

I too wish they would have to serve the full amount. Unfortunately, the way prison space is these days I think a 2.5-3 year stretch is going to be about it. Moveover, I hope this serves notice to any others out there. Tom Purdom

USA has the worlds highest percentage of people per capita in prison and it is not going to get any better. This forces shortened prison terms and bargained deals at the DA level.

Romero eh? Damn mexicans!

They will probably ingage in some illegal activity to pay the fines, taxes, and restitution. Maybe they will switch to drug smugleing

Romero is an old NM name. His ancestors had probably been in NM a few generations before the Pilgrims set sail. Not Mexican. Spanish.

quote:

Originally posted by GSP7:
Romero eh? Damn mexicans!

They will probably ingage in some illegal activity to pay the fines, taxes, and restitution. Maybe they will switch to drug smugleing

quote:

by390ish

Romero is an old NM name. His ancestors had probably been in NM a few generations before the Pilgrims set sail. Not Mexican. Spanish.

Most od the spanish sir names in New Mexico are SPANISH, not Mexican! However, many of the Indians in New Mexico have spanish sir names as well, because many Spanish settlers married Indian women, way back in the 1600s.

However, it makes little difference what ethnic group a criminal is, it is the crime we need to address, not his ancestory!