Let’s Make a Deal

When a Santa Fe jury convicted former State Sen. Phil Griego of five crimes last November, his attorney promised an appeal.

"Anytime there's a conviction, there's going to be an appeal, especially in a case with this kind of complication," Tom Clark told SFR after the jury returned its verdict.

In February, after a judge sentenced Griego to 18 months in prison and a $47,225 fine, Clark wasn't certain. The time it would take to appeal might eclipse the time Griego would spend in prison, he reasoned, if good behavior knocked it down to nine months as expected.

But Griego and his attorney filed a notice of appeal on March 9, the day after the disgraced former lawmaker reported to prison. One of the first steps after filing an appeal is submitting a docketing statement, a check-the-boxes sort of document that gives the Court of Appeals a better idea of the reason for the appeal and shows other parties are aware of it. That has to be done within 30 days. Griego hasn't done it.

Instead, in a document filed earlier this month, Clark asked the Court of Appeals for an extension. The reason, the attorney told the court, is that he and prosecutors from the Office of the Attorney General have been working on a plea deal in another case against Griego.

Reached by phone, Clark acknowledged that he thinks an agreement is in place. He wouldn't comment on the terms of the deal, because it's not yet been approved by District Court Judge Brett Loveless, but tells SFR, "It is anticipated at this time that all of Phil Griego's issues are going to be resolved, including potentially his appeals."

A spokesman for the Office of the Attorney General, David Carl, tells SFR, "It would be inappropriate to comment at this time."

Last summer, prosecutors filed 22 charges against Griego involving his campaign finance practices. The charges include perjury and embezzlement. The case is set for trial in October, but there's a hearing on Aug. 20 to discuss the stipulated plea.

Charges from the second case against Phil Griego have strained relations between Clark and prosecutors. During Griego's sentencing hearing, Assistant Attorney General Zach Jones argued that the former senator hadn't truly taken responsibility for the crimes. Clark immediately objected, revealing that Griego had signed a June 2017 plea agreement that would have bound him to a guilty verdict in some charges from his first case, mandated a $50,000 fine and suggested a sentence of zero to three years. But Clark said prosecutors backed out after a debate over language in the plea agreement.

Three days after Deputy Attorney General Sharon Pino withdrew the proposed plea deal, the office filed the 22 additional charges in a separate case. Attorney General Hector Balderas' office said it didn't reneg on a plea deal and never received a signed agreement from Griego and his legal team. While the office conceded such an offer was made, a spokesman said it was withdrawn after a second investigation into Griego's campaign finances suggested further wrongdoing.

As for Griego's time as a prison inmate in Los Lunas, Clark says it's been hard. Griego's adult son died recently, and Clark says his client wasn't able to be with him during his final days.

"Prison's prison, and Phil Griego is a 70-year-old man," Clark says. "But—and you can quote me on this—Phil Griego is a tough old dude."

Despite a jury's judgment that Griego used his position as a state senator to land a $50,000 payday in a real estate deal, Clark insists the former legislator has taken his convictions to heart: "Not once has he complained or has he asked for special treatment or blamed anyone but himself."

Clark anticipates filing another extension with the Court of Appeals to preserve the possibility in case the anticipated plea agreementthe event that the plea fell through.

He wouldn't comment on the process of returning to the bargaining table with prosecutors after last summer's fiasco, instead telling SFR, "These are difficult cases with lots of moving parts. And sometimes parties just can't reach a resolution short of trial."

If Griego gets no additional time in the second case, he could be out of prison by Christmas.