Prosecutors have announced that no charges will be filed against a former Montezuma County commissioner connected to a multi-state vehicle theft probe.
“After extensive investigations, including consultation with the Attorney General’s office, it has been determined that charges will not be filed against (Larrie) Rule,” said Assistant District Attorney Sean Murray.
Murray issued the statement on Tuesday, May 19, moments after a Rule associate was sentenced in connection to a 2012 cement truck investigation. After pleading guilty to attempted aggravated motor vehicle theft in March, Richard Spears, 50, of Truth or Consequences, N.M., was sentenced to 18 months of probation and 120 hours of community service. Spears will be allowed to complete the probationary term and public service out of state.
At sentencing, Murray publicly questioned the defendant’s assertion that he didn’t know the cement trucks were stolen, citing Spears intentionally avoided Colorado’s port of entry when delivering two unregistered cement trucks to Rule’s Cortez home in late 2012.
“Mr. Spears knew the trucks were stolen,” Murray told the court.
Despite his client’s guilty plea, Cortez defense attorney Kelly McCabe disagreed, stating that Spears had submitted paperwork to transfer ownership of a backhoe in exchange for the cement trucks. McCabe then admitted that his client’s actions were abnormal, and a jury might have found him guilty.
“There’s no question that (Spears) transported (the trucks) without paperwork,” said McCabe.
Appearing out of custody wearing a T-shirt and jeans, Spears opted not to address the court at sentencing.
Presiding over the case, Chief District Court Judge Doug Walker also granted a $9,383.19 restitution request from prosecutors. The defense was given 10 days to contest the restitution amount.
Rule connection
Launched by the Colorado State Patrol, the vehicle-theft investigation included a three-day search of Rule’s home and business, where authorities seized two stolen cement trucks on Dec. 12, 2012. Rule has continuously maintained his innocence, stating the investigation was politically motivated.
“I had no idea the trucks were stolen,” Rule told The Cortez Journal last year.
Court records reveal that Rule allegedly brokered the acquisition of the cement trucks for a local gravel company. Investigators reported that Rule not only advised the potential buyer that the trucks would have to be painted before being sold for $40,000 each, but that he also paid extra to “clear up the titles.”
Murray explained that prosecutors were unable to file charges against Rule, because the circumstantial evidence in the case failed to prove that Rule knew or believed the trucks to be stolen.
After serving two terms as a Republican county commissioner, Rule left office in January 2013 due to term limits. His wife, Pat DeGagne-Rule, resigned her position as head of the local Republican Party prior to a failed campaign attempt to obtain her husband’s commissioner post.
Spears reportedly spent less than a day in jail when he arrested in connection to the case by Arizona authorities in May 2013. He was initially charged with two counts of first-degree aggravated motor vehicle theft.
Authorities alleged that Spears stole a total of four cement trucks, valued at $65,000 each, from a concrete facility in Phoenix, Ariz.
tbaker@cortezjournal.com