Ex-New Mexico state senator is convicted in corruption trial

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A former New Mexico state senator has been found guilty on five counts in a corruption trial over accusations he used his position as a lawmaker to profit from the sale of a state-owned building. Jurors reached the verdict Thursday after deliberating eight charges against Phil Griego that included fraud, bribery and perjury. Prosecutors accused Griego of using his elected position and acumen as a real estate broker to guide the building's sale in downtown Santa Fe through approvals by a state agency, the Legislature and a public buildings commission without properly disclosing his financial interest. Griego says he did nothing wrong in earning a $50,000 commission in 2014 from buyers of the property. The 69-year-old Democrat resigned from the Legislature in 2015 at the close of an ethics investigation.