A New Mexico man charged with two counts of first-degree aggravated motor vehicle theft requested copies of the case file five days after his arrest.
Court records reveal that defendant Richard Spears, 50, of Truth or Consequences, N.M., filed a records request search of the case file on June 4. Authorities at the Pima County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona arrested him on May 30.
The Cortez Journal inspected the same records last week, which showed an arrest warrant was issued for Spears on Jan. 30. Two weeks prior, the newspaper reported the Colorado State Patrol had completed its investigation, and state officials were waiting for prosecutors to file charges.
According to the arrest warrant, Darren Stone, owner of a local sand and gravel company, asked then-Montezuma County Commissioner Larrie Rule in late 2012 if he could help facilitate the acquisition of cement trucks for a new business venture. Stone told authorities he traveled with Rule to the defendant’s place of business in New Mexico on Dec. 6, 2012, where four cement trucks were located. During the trip, Rule reportedly advised Stone that the trucks would have to be painted before being sold for $40,000 each. Stone said he was surprised at the asking price, since $60,000 would have been closer to market value.
The following day, Spears reportedly delivered two of the trucks without proper paperwork to Rule’s home in Cortez. Rule reportedly told Stone that he paid extra to “clear up the titles.” On Dec. 9, 2012, Rule told Stone the remaining two trucks would be delivered within days.
CSP investigators subsequently raided Rule’s home on Dec. 10, seizing two of the stolen cement trucks. Days later, authorities in New Mexico seized the other two stolen pieces of equipment from Spears’ home, the same locale that Rule took Stone to view the cement trucks.
In January 2013, court records show that Spears’ wife told authorities that her husband traded the four trucks for a front loader sometime in April 2012, but a former Spears’ employee offered a different story. The employee told authorities that Spears instructed him and others to take the four trucks from an old concrete facility in Phoenix and then deliver them to Las Palomas, N.M.
Another witness stated that they were instructed to avoid weigh stations, which he described as “suspicious.” The same witness said Spears would later brag that his daughters helped him paint one of the stolen vehicles.
Court records reveal each of the stolen cement trucks were valued at $65,000 each.
Free on a $5,000 bond, Spears, represented by local attorney Kelly McCabe, is set to appear in court for a possible plea deal on Dec. 4.
No charges have been filed against Rule, who served two terms as a Republican county commissioner. He left office because of term limits in January 2013. Rule has denied any wrongdoing.
tbaker@cortezjournal.com