Carmella Martinez, Conspiracy to Steal Federal Funds, New Mexico 2014

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The former executive director of the Taos County Housing Authority (TCHA) and her husband have been sentenced to prison terms for conspiring to steal federal funds. Carmella Martinez, 42, of Arroyo Seco, N.M., was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison, while her husband Paul G. Martinez, 44, was sentenced to 24 months of imprisonment.

According to the indictment, between November 2003 and December 2011, Carmella and Paul Martinez stole federal funds provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to the TCHA for a housing program that provides affordable housing for low-income Americans. Carmella Martinez was employed by the TCHA, initially as a Financial Specialist and later as its Executive Director.

The indictment alleged that Carmella Martinez was responsible for processing Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) checks to approved Section 8 property owners and landlords and providing preliminary approval of requests for rent subsidies to property owners and landlords under the Section 8 Program. She abused her position with TCHA by conspiring with her husband to engage in the theft of Section 8 housing funds.

The couple pled guilty in August 2013, to Count 1 of the indictment charging them with conspiracy to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds and to commit theft of government property. In her plea agreement, Carmella Martinez admitted that she began issuing fraudulent, duplicate Section 8 HAP checks for the benefit of herself and her husband in 2000, and that her husband began conspiring with her to steal federal funds from the TCHA in 2003.

As part of their plea agreements, the United States moved to dismiss the remaining 48 counts of the indictment after Carmella and Paul Martinez have been sentenced. The couple was also ordered to jointly pay $786,014.04 in restitution.

Carmella and Paul Martinez were charged in December 2012 in a 49-count federal indictment with conspiracy, theft from programs receiving federal funds, and theft of government property. The sentences were announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Steven C. Yarbrough, Special Agent in Charge Phyllis Grissom Robinson, Region 6, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General, and Special Agent in Charge Carol K.O. Lee of the Albuquerque Division of the FBI.

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