Portales, NM – Ninth Judicial District Attorney, Andrea Reeb, in conjunction with the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office, announced that on Friday, July 24, 2020, a Roosevelt County Grand Jury returned indictments against Steve Barron, Steven Butler, and Amy Butler on felony white-collar charges – including fraud, embezzlement, and creating false public vouchers – related to the criminal mismanagement of funds that occurred while the three were associated with the Dora Consolidated School District. Steven Butler stands accused of violating the Governmental Conduct Act, improperly obtaining procurement contracts under false pretense, and racketeering related to his use of the school district and his businesses to conduct crimes. Amy and Steven Butler were also indicted for converting school property to their own use, and Barron was indicted for making or permitting false statement on a public voucher.
“It is a betrayal of public trust that those entrusted with public funds to ensure proper functioning of a school district chose to use their positions to pilfer those funds,” said Attorney General Hector Balderas. “We hope to help rebuild public trust by holding these individuals accountable for these alleged acts and recovering the money they unlawfully stole.”
Ninth Judicial District Attorney Andrea Reeb stated, “It has been great working with the Attorney General’s Office on this matter. The Dora community has been waiting a very long time for this case to begin moving forward in the criminal justice system. I am thankful to the Attorney General for providing the man power and resources to complete this investigation, and I look forward to the continued partnership during the prosecution phase.”
These cases came to light after the State Auditor in 2017 issued a special audit report identifying 13 areas in which the accused used public funds to, among other things, enter into illegal contracts. These cases will be jointly prosecuted by prosecutors from the Office of the Attorney General and the Ninth Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
For more information, please contact the District Attorney’s Office at 575-769-2246.
