Rosalinda Hurtado
A 38-year-old Alcalde woman, Rosalinda Hurtado, has received five years of probation in First Judicial District Court on five cases from Los Alamos, Rio Arriba and Santa Fe counties.
Hurtado was originally charged in Los Alamos Magistrate Court with 43 counts including forgery, fraud, identity theft, credit card theft and receiving stolen property. She also faced similar charges in Rio Arriba County and Santa Fe County.
Assistant District Attorney Kent Wahlquist approved a global plea agreement June 30 whereby Hurtado pleaded guilty to only 13 charges, all felonies and agreed to pay restitution of $16,983.23 to victims of the crimes. She was placed on supervised probation for five years and should her conditional discharge ever be revoked, she would face a possible sentence of nine years of incarceration.
The order of conditional discharge was signed by Judge Jennifer L. Attrep in Tierra Amarillo and allows Hurtado to ask for an early discharge from probation once restitution is paid in full. Judge Attrep also allowed Hurtado to participate in the Technical Violations Program, which allows probationers automatic sanctions for technical violations of a probation agreement before probation can be revoked.
The range of possible sentences for the 13 felonies charged was a minimum of probation to a maximum of 24 years of incarceration and a $65,000 fine.
Los Alamos Police Department records indicate that more than $20,000 was stolen from Los Alamos residents by Hurtado and her alleged accomplice John Joseph Lerma. The two were allegedly in a romantic relationship when they committed crimes against people of all ages from high school students to the elderly. Some of the victims were in poor health and Hurtado preyed on them while visiting their homes to provide health care. Others were athletes whose wallets were removed from their backpacks during sports practices.
LAPD Criminal Investigations and Patrol Divisions began investigating the crimes last August and put together a profile linking all the cases. On Aug. 27, 2016, Lerma and Hurtado were apprehended on a traffic stop in Los Alamos. Evidence found by LAPD helped solve several open cases for other law enforcement agencies including Taos Sheriff’s Office, Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office, Santa Fe Police Department and New Mexico State Police.
The Los Alamos Daily Post made several verbal and written requests for comments from First Judicial District Attorney Marco Serna’s office beginning July 7, however to date, no response has been received. Serna was asked several questions including why there was no incarceration included in the plea agreement, whether or not the plea agreement had been discussed with LAPD before being offered to Hurtado, why there was no schedule for payment of restitution, and how determination was made of which charges to drop.
Lerma is scheduled for a pre-trial conference July 26 before Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer in Santa Fe.