Posted: Sunday, January 1, 2006 12:00 am
FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) - A second Farmington businessman faces charges of trying to bribe an employee of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
A federal grand jury in Albuquerque last month indicted Curtis Slade, 43, on charges of offering a bribe to Ralph Mason of the BLM's Farmington field office.
Slade is a former business partner of Norman Geoff McMahon, 71, who was indicted earlier last month on four similar counts. Slade and McMahon owned NewCo Aggregate and both were involved in securing mining permits from the BLM.
McMahon is accused of giving Mason $7,000 between Dec. 15, 2000, and Feb. 15, 2002 in connection with a BLM permit to mine humate, an organic mineral used in fertilizer and soil supplements. Mason, who resigned on Dec. 3, 2003, was a geologist handling the permit process.
The new indictment accuses Slade of giving Mason $4,000 for permits to mine sand and gravel.
Bill Papich, a spokesman for the BLM office in Farmington, referred questions to the U.S. attorney's office in Albuquerque, where a spokesman said the office does not comment on pending investigations.
The federal charges come nearly three years after the San Juan County district attorney charged Slade with racketeering, embezzlement and bribery of a public official. Those charges are pending.
Joe Romero Jr., Slade's attorney, said the state had access to the same information the federal government reviewed, but chose not to charge McMahon. McMahon's business attorney, Gary Risley, said he believes the charges stem from a misunderstanding by the U.S. attorney.