Stapleton's Defense Said She Didn't Steal From Taxpayers. Prosecutors Want $3.2 Million Back for APS.

On Aug. 14, 2026, a federal jury in Albuquerque convicted former House Majority Leader Sheryl Williams Stapleton on all 31 felony counts. Her defense had spent the trial on a single, carefully built distinction: she took money, her lawyer conceded, but she took it from a friend's company, not from the taxpayers.

Twelve jurors did not buy the distinction. Neither, three weeks later, did Stapleton herself. On Sept. 4 she pleaded guilty to four state charges, agreed to a 10½-year prison term and to pay $1,881,850 in restitution.

Now federal prosecutors have put their own number on it. The U.S. Attorney's Office for New Mexico told the New Mexico Inquirer it will seek approximately $3.2 million in restitution for Albuquerque Public Schools. That is nearly the entire $3.25 million APS paid the vendor at the center of the case. The office also said the Dec. 16 federal sentencing date the Albuquerque Journal reported is not firm.

The criminal case is nearly closed. The institutional one never opened. For eight years, a single Albuquerque Public Schools administrator steered, approved and personally picked up the checks for a vendor that was paying her. The district's own superintendent later put it plainly: "Our previous system did not establish adequate controls over this employee."

According to the federal indictment and IRS Criminal Investigation, APS paid Robotics Management Learning Systems, a Washington, D.C. company owned by Stapleton's friend Joseph Johnson, about $3.25 million between 2013 and 2021. About $2.52 million of that was federal Perkins money, the U.S. Department of Education's career and technical education funding.

Stapleton ran that money as APS's Perkins Project director. Prosecutors said about 40% of the district's non-personnel CTE funding went to one vendor.

Then it came back. Using blank Robotics checks that Johnson's office manager mailed to her, Stapleton moved about $1,152,506 into accounts she controlled, roughly 38% of everything APS paid the company. Per the IRS, about $313,000 went to her family's restaurant, $287,000 to a company she owned, $480,000 to the Ujima Foundation she ran with Johnson, and some to home remodeling.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Federici told jurors the company's profit margin ran as high as 73%, and that the two split it "half and half."

That was the question defense attorney Ryan Villa handed the jury in his Aug. 4 opening. "She did take money and she shouldn't have," he said, the Albuquerque Journal reported, adding, "We're not here to tell you that she is 100% innocent." The Associated Press summarized the position: she stole from Johnson's company but "did not steal from state and federal taxpayers."

Elegant theory, one problem. Robotics had no money that APS did not give it. Stapleton's checks were drawn on an account filled by a school district, mostly with federal funds, through invoices Stapleton approved or told subordinates to approve. A former state Justice Department agent testified that APS mailed its payments to an Albuquerque post office box and that Stapleton personally collected and deposited them.

The jury convicted her of bribery, fraud, money laundering, conspiracy and three false tax return counts. Johnson was convicted on all 28 counts he faced. "Did not steal from state and federal taxpayers" now has 31 guilty verdicts stapled to it.

State investigators served search warrants on Stapleton's home, business and APS offices in late July 2021. She resigned her House seat within days; APS fired her that August. The state filed 28 counts that September.

The federal grand jury followed in March 2024. Trial was set for Sept. 30, 2025, then pushed 182 days to March 2026 at the defendants' request, then pushed again, less than four weeks before jury selection, to August. The state trial, set for Oct. 5, was canceled when she pleaded.

Under the state deal, the 10½ years run concurrent with whatever federal time she gets. Federal prosecutors have declined to estimate a range; the federal counts carry a theoretical maximum of 524 years. A state sentencing date has not been publicly reported.

The scheme ran from July 2013 to June 2021. The indictment describes sole-source contracts, procurement exemptions, a 2019 proposal in which Johnson certified there was no conflict of interest, and invoices approved for more than the services delivered and more than the contract limits. Every one of those steps ran through the person being paid.

APS did eventually catch it. Then-Superintendent Scott Elder wrote in July 2021 that he had been alerted to "irregularities in procurement procedures" months earlier and referred the matter to the attorney general. The state Public Education Department then put conditions on APS's federal CTE money: rewrite federal procurement procedures, train staff, hire a state-approved independent auditor for conflict-of-interest and procurement, and account for every Robotics payment by funding source.

What has not surfaced in public reporting is the result: who flagged it, why nobody above Stapleton questioned one vendor taking four of every ten non-personnel CTE dollars, and what the independent auditor found.

The defense's strongest point: Robotics delivered real software, and Villa told jurors APS awarded the contracts through its normal procurement process. Johnson testified he did not know Stapleton had withdrawn more than $1 million, saying he lost focus on the business after his son died in a 2016 car crash. After the verdict, Stapleton's attorney Ahmad Assed said the defense was "very disappointed" and that all options, including an appeal, were being considered, the Associated Press reported. APS's best case: the district itself took the matter to the attorney general, and fired her within weeks of the warrants.

Albuquerque Public Schools: Who first flagged the Robotics payments, and when? Did anyone besides Stapleton review CTE invoices between 2013 and 2021? What did the independent auditor required by the Public Education Department find, and will APS release it?

U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Mexico (answered Oct. 21): Is the Dec. 16 sentencing date firm? "No." What restitution will the government seek? About $3.2 million, for Albuquerque Public Schools.

New Mexico Department of Justice: When is state sentencing? Who receives the $1,881,850 in restitution?

Ryan Villa and Ahmad Assed: Has a notice of appeal or motion for a new trial been filed? Does Stapleton still maintain that no taxpayer money was taken?

This story draws on federal court records, a U.S. Attorney's Office announcement, an IRS Criminal Investigation announcement, written answers from the U.S. Attorney's Office on Oct. 21, and reporting by the Albuquerque Journal, the Associated Press, KOB 4 and the Santa Fe New Mexican through Oct. 29, 2026. Sentencing dates can move, the federal restitution figure is what prosecutors will seek rather than what the court will order, and the audit records have not been made public. We are looking for the independent auditor's reports, internal APS correspondence on Robotics invoices, and anyone who worked in the CTE office from 2013 to 2021. Albuquerque Public Schools, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico, the New Mexico Department of Justice, and attorneys Ryan Villa and Ahmad Assed were asked for comment; the U.S. Attorney's Office answered, APS said it is working on our request, and any further responses will be added with a dated update. Tips and corrections: [email protected].