New Mexico
Federal grand jury indicts former treasurer for stealing more than $2 million from New Mexico abbey
A former member of a Norbertine community in New Mexico has been indicted on allegations that he stole millions of dollars from the religious group over the course of several months.
A grand jury handed down charges in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico alleging that James Owens stole funds belonging to the Norbertine abbey of Santa Maria de la Vid on the outskirts of Albuquerque.
The Jan. 21 charging document alleges that Owens, who reportedly became a brother at the abbey in 2009, began stealing money from the community in 2022. Owens, formerly a certified public accountant and lawyer, had been made treasurer of the organization in 2016, the same year he became a permanent member there.
As treasurer, he had signatory authority over the abbey’s financial accounts and was responsible for the payment of the community’s expenses.
Owens allegedly used “wire communications, monetary transactions,” and other methods to transfer over $2 million to multiple accounts he controlled. Some of the money was used to purchase a home in nearby Placitas, the grand jury said.
The transfers were carried out from around May 2022 to March 2023, the indictment says, during a development project to expand retreat facilities at the abbey.
In a press release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico said Owens has been charged with “eight counts of wire fraud, 23 counts of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from unlawful activity, and one count of attempt to evade and defeat tax.” He is facing 20 years in prison if convicted.
On its website, the Norbertine community says it established its abbey on property bought from the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in 1995. The property had originally been run as a Dominican convent that replaced a late-1940s airstrip.
The facility offers retreat opportunities including “self-contained hermitages” and guest accommodations.
The community notes that “several of our brothers have their earthly resting places here in our communal cemetery.”
“As Norbertine brothers we will have an everlasting presence on this land,” the website says.
Native Vote 2026
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A Laguna Pueblo woman is the front runner to be New Mexico’s next governor.
Shortly after polls closed Tuesday night, Deb Haaland was declared the winner over Bernalillo County district attorney Sam Bregman in the state’s semi-open Democratic Party primary. As of 11:00 p.m., Haaland carried support from 72% of the Democratic primary voters to Bregman’s 28%, according to unofficial results from the New Mexico Secretary of State.
“We’re showing everyone that a better future in New Mexico is possible,” she told supporters gathered in Albuquerque’s historic Old Town Plaza. “New Mexicans want a leader who will stand up for working people, and who is ready to take on Donald Trump. I proudly accept your nomination as a Democratic nominee.”
Haaland spoke for 13 minutes, at times through a scratchy throat that required her to pause for water breaks. “Excuse me, I’ve been talking with voters all day,” she said while grabbing a water bottle before hitting her campaign stump notes on affordability, health care and public safety.
She will face Republican Gregg Hull, a former mayor from suburban Rio Rancho that won his party’s three-way primary with 47% of the vote, according to unofficial results from the New Mexico Secretary of State.
Haaland will be the Democratic Party nominee in a state dominated at every level by Democrats, and is expected to be heavily favored in the general election. With that insight she said her campaign message does translate to Republicans and Independent voters.
“We want our kids to thrive. We want our kids to have a quality, public education. We want every New Mexican to have health care. Everybody wants to feel safe in their neighborhoods, and everybody wants to be able to afford to put a hot meal on their table every night and have a roof over their children’s heads,” she said. “Those issues transcend whatever political spectrum we’re trying to slice and dice people into.”
Shortly after the race was called, Haaland campaign staff, major donors, surrogates, and their families walked from a building on the west side of Albuquerque’s Old Town Plaza to the historic plaza core, where the Haaland campaign had set up a stage and reserved the entire plaza for its victory celebration.
“We are now witnessing history in the making,” New Mexico state Rep. Derrick Lente (Sandia Pueblo) said to supporters immediately after Haaland was declared the winner.
Denise Wilie (Dine) also joined the celebration of Haaland’s victory. Wilie said she worked on get-out-the-vote efforts with the Native American Voters Alliance in McKinley County.
“It just is so exhilarating to even think about, a woman and a Pueblo woman,” she said. “Indigenous all the way, is how I feel. I’m like, yes, let’s get more of our voices.”
Haaland was introduced by her two sisters and walked to the stage escorted by a mariachi band.
Speaking to reporters after the event Haaland reflected on voting for a Pueblo woman (herself) for governor.
“I got emotional, quite frankly, when I went to vote for myself because you do that when you’re a candidate,” she said. “We’ve never had a Native American governor in New Mexico. We’re a multicultural state. I think representation matters, especially in a political era such as this one. So, I’m really proud and honored to carry on the legacy of my ancestors, who worked so incredibly hard to make sure that I had a place here today.”
Related
When a famly unexpectedly loses a loved one, or has someone go missing, the details of what comes next can be overwhelming.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – When a famly unexpectedly loses a loved one, or has someone go missing, the details of what comes next can be overwhelming.
But they don’t have to do it alone thanks to an organization helping New Mexico families with some of those burdens.
Watch the video above for more.
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