Former Eddy County official Wesley Hooper charged with 16 felonies from gas card use
A former official at Eddy County was charged with multiple felonies after police alleged he fraudulently received travel reimbursements and misused fuel cards while still employed by the county.
Wesley Hooper previously served as Eddy County Community Services Director and was one of three finalists for county manager in 2019 to replace Rick Rudometkin, a job that ultimately went to Allen Davis who was replaced recently by former-Finance Director Roberta Gonzales.
He was charged by the Eddy County Sherriff’s Office with a series of felonies and misdemeanors, police said, tied to “fraudulent charges” of more than $4,000 between August 2022 and February 2023.
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The alleged fraud was discovered, police said, during routine internal accounting, and police were notified in March 2023, before announcing the charges against Hooper Wednesday.
Court records show Hooper was charged with 13 counts of making or permitting false public voucher, two counts of identity theft and one count of fraud more than $500 but no more than $2,500 - all fourth-degree felonies.
He was also charged with three petty misdemeanor charges of fraud of $250 or less.
The Carlsbad Current-Argus has reached out to Hooper's attorney Gary Mitchell, but did not receive as response as of the publication of this article.
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Hooper pleaded not guilty to all of the charges and is scheduled for a preliminary examination Aug. 2 before Carlsbad Magistrate Judge Kelly Calicoat.
Records show the charges stemmed from fraudulent use of two county fuel cards, after transactions were provided to investigators by Davis in March 2023, about a month before Davis retired from the post.
The 13 transactions in question ranged from about $25 to $96 made in cities throughout New Mexico, including the Eddy County seat Carlsbad and as far away as Santa Fe, Los Lunas and El Paso, Texas.
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Those records show Hooper also received mileage reimbursements for hundreds of dollars at a time for his personal vehicle despite not using it.
Through surveillance footage acquired from the gas stations, police tied the transactions to a white Tahoe truck bearing an Eddy County sticker, according to a criminal complaint.
In a meeting with Gonzales, police reviewed fuel invoices, noticing the mileage was rounded instead of a precise accounting.
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Two county community services employee PINs were used in the invoices: Veronica Parras and Warren Hardin.
Records show Gonzales told police the employees “don’t use county vehicles often.”
When asked by police, Parras and Hardin denied using county vehicles.
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Parras told investigators she had not traveled using a county vehicle since Mother’s Day 2022, and the criminal complaint noted that Hardin “never traveled,” according to witnesses.
This indicated, Interim Finance Director Jessica Stygar told police, the gas cards were being used fraudulently.
The gas card charges corresponded with Hooper’s travel, read the complaint, who was the only person believed to have access to the vehicles.
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Gonzales later told police it was discovered Hooper was using his own gas card and PIN number until December 2022.
Eddy County employees are allowed to either use a county vehicle and its assigned gas card or drive their own vehicles and apply for reimbursement when traveling.
Records show Hooper stated he was using a county vehicle because his personal vehicle had “mechanical issues,” but a county inquiry revealed he was still submitting mileage reimbursements for travel in a personal vehicle.
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This resulted in a “dual payment,” the complaint read, a violation of the county’s travel policy.
Hooper justified the alleged violation to “balance” unreported mileage from his personal vehicle over the last few years, the complaint read, for which he never submitted or received reimbursements.
He also denied using employees’ social security numbers to make the gas purchases, although Gonzales told police Hooper would have had access to that information.
He also received a $1,000 a month stipend for using his personal vehicle despite allegedly not doing so, the complaint read.
Police met with Hooper June 16. He told police he frequently traveled to Santa Fe to meet with lawmakers, and denied using the county vehicle “a whole lot.”
Hooper said he did not believe he violated county policy despite being advised by Davis that he have violated county policy and possibly the law in a March 27 meeting, according to the criminal complaint.
He admitted to purchasing fuel using a county gas card on multiple occasions while also receiving personal mileage reimbursements but denied using his employees’ PINs.
Records show Hooper told police to manage the budget, a county employee could use another’s PIN, but he denied ever doing so.
He said he resigned from this position after Davis gave him the option to resign. Hooper was hired by the county in 2015.
Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Former Eddy County official Wesley Hooper charged with 16 felonies
