Former Rio Arriba County sheriff, serving prison term, pleads no contest in second case
Dec. 30—Former Rio Arriba County Sheriff James Lujan, already a convicted felon, pleaded no contest Wednesday to a charge accusing him of interfering with a March 2020 operation by Española police officers who were serving a warrant on his friend, former Española City Councilor Phillip Chacon.
Under the terms of Lujan's agreement with 9th Judicial District Attorney Andrea Reeb, a special prosecutor in the case, state District Judge Bryan Biedscheid sentenced Lujan to 364 days on the misdemeanor count of resisting, evading or obstructing an officer, Reeb confirmed after the hearing Wednesday.
That sentence will run concurrently with a three-year prison sentence for Lujan — who appeared in court by video Wednesday from the Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Los Lunas.
He recently began serving his sentence there after he was convicted earlier this month of felony counts for helping Chacon avoid arrest in 2017 and directing a deputy not to tell anyone.
Reeb dismissed two other counts of the same charge, related to Lujan's failure to cooperate with Española officers and Taos County sheriff's deputies who arrived at the Rio Arriba County Sheriff's Office in May 2020 to execute search warrants for his cellphones.
"I am happy these proceedings against James Lujan are complete," Reeb wrote in a message following the hearing. "Finally his reign of power, control and corruption will end. I hope the citizens of Rio Arriba can rebuild their faith in the Rio Arriba Sheriff's Office under new leadership."
She added: "Most importantly, I want to thank the Española Police Department for their continued support in the prosecution of all these matters. I could not have successfully prosecuted these matters without their help and support."
Lujan's attorney, Jason Bowles, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Wednesday.
Reeb said earlier this month it was while investigating this misdemeanor case — in which Lujan showed up drunk at Chacon's house as police were executing a search warrant and tried to take charge — that she discovered the information used to convict Lujan in the felony case.
In that case, Lujan was found guilty of helping Chacon avoid being arrested following a high-speed chase through Española in March 2017 by picking up Chacon at his home after the pursuit and driving him away in a patrol vehicle.
Lujan also was convicted of intimidating or threatening a witness for taking one of his former deputies, Cody Lattin, to Chacon's house with him that night and directing Lattin not to tell anyone what he had done or to discuss his actions on police radio.
Lujan resigned earlier this month after his conviction. The trial was his second in the case; a June trial in a Tierra Amarilla courtroom ended with a jury deadlocked 8-4 in favor of acquittal.
Lujan's predecessor, Tommy Rodella, is serving a 10-year sentence in federal prison for roughing up a motorist and brandishing a firearm during an encounter in 2014.
The Rio Arriba County Commission on Dec. 6 appointed then Maj. Billy Merrifield — a seven-year veteran of the sheriff's office — to fill Lujan's post until the voters chose a new sheriff in 2023.
