SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce wants a state district judge to consider former New Mexico Secretary of State Dianna Duran's years of public service before sentencing her next week.
A letter from the Republican congressman to Judge T. Glenn Ellington was among the correspondence released by the court after a hearing Tuesday.
The board chair of the state Public Employee Retirement Association, Patty French, and former Otero County Democratic Party Chair John Wheeler also were among those seeking leniency for Duran.
They made references to Duran's compassion for her community and family.
Two other letters from residents in Albuquerque and Santa Fe and a recorded phone message left with the judge's office expressed frustration with government corruption and asked the judge to impose a stiff sentence.