Albuquerque, NM (KKOB) –As the trial continues against former House Majority leader Sheryl Williams Stapleton, a key government witness testified Monday that Stapleton approved invoices that allowed a firm to overbill APS by more than $300,000 in excess of its 2020 contract limit. An IRS agent and key government witness told jurors that Robotics Management Learning System, a Washington DC based firm owned by Stapleton’s co-defendant, overcharged APS by $328,000 in 2020, largely by double-billing for certain services. The witness also testified that Stapleton, a former APS official, failed to report on her federal income tax returns a total of $554,000 in payments she allegedly obtained from Robotics for tax years 2015 to 2018. Stapleton declared $0 in taxable income in each of those years and obtained tax refunds totaling tens of thousands of dollars. The trial is expected to go through this week.
