GALLUP, N.M. — New Mexico Public Regulation Commissioner Carol Sloan, convicted of battery and burglary stemming from a fit of jealous rage, will not have to serve jail time.
A state district judge sentenced Sloan on Thursday to five years but suspended the term on the condition that she remain on supervised probation for five years. Sloan also was ordered to pay a $2,500 fine and $1,000 in court costs.
Prosecutors said Sloan attacked another woman, Brenda Yazzie, with a rock in July and accused Yazzie of having an affair with her husband.
Sloan testified at her trial last month that she was devastated and felt betrayed but that she never struck Yazzie with a rock and had no knowledge of the woman’s injuries.
Joel Davis, Sloan’s attorney, said state District Judge Louis DePauli took into consideration Sloan’s history, her public service and the likelihood that something like this would not happen again.
Still, Davis said he plans to appeal his client’s convictions.
Davis added that no one is infallible and described the incident as “a heat-of-the-moment type of deal.” Sloan, a Democrat, had sought re-election to the five-member PRC in the June primary, but state law says no one convicted of a felony can be elected to public office. She had attracted four primary opponents for the seat, which represents northwestern New Mexico.
After Sloan’s sentencing, Attorney General Gary King issued a news release to announce that he had filed a petition with the New Mexico Supreme Court to remove Sloan from her PRC position.
King, also a Democrat, said Sloan can no longer remain in public office now that she has been convicted of two felonies and has been sentenced.
