Former NM cabinet secretary will take job in Obama administration despite DWI
By APThursday, December 10, 2009
DWI in NM won’t derail Padilla’s federal job
SANTA FE, N.M. — A former New Mexico Cabinet secretary arrested for drunken driving three days after being named to an Obama administration post will assume her federal job.
Prosecutors say 48-year-old Cindy Padilla pleaded no contest to her first DWI offense in Santa Fe Municipal Court. She received a deferred sentence Nov. 19.
Padilla was secretary of New Mexico’s Aging and Long-Term Services Department.
The charge resulted from an Oct. 24 traffic stop.
Three days earlier, Padilla had accepted the job of principal deputy assistant secretary at the Administration on Aging in Washington, D.C. After her arrest, Padilla asked her start date be postponed while she resolved the DWI.
A Heath and Human Services spokeswoman said Thursday Padilla will start “within a few weeks.”
Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican, www.sfnewmexican.com
