ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The name of a former Albuquerque Public Schools administrator and state lawmaker facing federal and local charges for stealing taxpayer money will be removed from a building at Expo New Mexico. Next Friday, Sheryl Williams Stapleton’s name will be removed from the African American Performing Arts Center.
She was charged federally with bribery, laundering, and defrauding the U.S. government charges earlier this week. Prosecutors say she, along with Joseph Johnson, stole millions in federal funding for personal use. She was indicted by a grand jury on racketeering, laundering, and numerous other charges for doing the same thing with state funds two years ago.
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham released this statement:
After careful consideration, I have decided that the serious charges levied against former Rep. Sheryl Williams Stapleton in a 35-count federal indictment this week warrant removal of her name from the African American Performing Arts Center at Expo New Mexico. If she is exonerated of these alleged financial crimes in a court of law, the New Mexico Legislature can consider returning her name to the facility.
When News 13 asked the governor about removing her name after the state charges were filed in 2021 the governor said her office was not going to take any premature actions adding “Stapleton is innocent until proven guilty.”
