Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
A former Tucumcari city commissioner was sentenced to probation and community service after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of bouncing a check of nearly $3,000 for outstanding water bills.
Christopher W. Arias, 31, pleaded guilty to fraud by worthless check in a deal with prosecutors.
According to court documents, Arias was placed on 18 months of supervised probation. He also must perform 50 hours of community service and complete either the ASPEN of New Mexico “Second Chance Life Values” treatment program or a financial accountability class.
Prosecutors stated in the plea agreement that they did not oppose to giving Arias nine months of unsupervised probation if he committed no other violations and finished his special conditions.
Court documents stated Arias made restitution. He must provide a sample of his DNA and a $100 fee to the New Mexico Department of Corrections for its DNA indexing system.
Arias did not speak during his sentencing except to answer basic questions from District Judge Benjamin Cross. Arias was represented by public defender Levi Chavez.
Arias could have faced up to three years in prison, plus one year of parole, and a fine of up to $1,000 for the felony charge.
A New Mexico State Police patrolman arrested Arias on an arrest warrant last month, and he briefly was jailed in the Quay County Detention Center.
Tucumcari city manager Paula Chacon in August reported that Arias’ check of $2,927.13 for water service at the now-closed Pow Wow Lounge had been returned to the city due to insufficient funds.
Chacon said that in October 2023, Arias leased the restaurant and lounge and “was significantly behind” in water-service payments.
She said she had contacted Arias, and he agreed to bring the account current to avoid suspension of water service.
Chacon said Arias came to City Hall with a Pow Wow/DFL Properties business check in the amount of $2,927.13, which would have brought the account into current enough status to avoid an interruption in water service.
Days later, Arias’ check had been returned because of lack of funds. Chacon said the city tried to notify Arias about the returned check through certified mail, but Arias refused to sign for the letter.
Arias operated the Pow Wow for a few months before closing it.
Nearly a year later, Chacon called Arias in August to remind him of the returned check. Chacon said she received an email reply where Arias confirmed the outstanding balance and “that he’d initiated a ‘process’ to bring accounts to current within 45 days.” Chacon said Arias had made no payments to the account.
During an interview with a police officer, Arias said did not intentionally deprive the city of funds but acknowledged he was left with significant debt when he took over the Pow Wow from its previous operator and that those debts had to be resolved to continue its operations.
The previous operator, Todd Duplantis, had operated the restaurant and lounge for a little less than 18 months before he closed it in May 2023.
Duplantis, also a former city commissioner, faces a felony charge of disposing of encumbered property. He is accused of taking more than $50,000 in kitchen equipment encumbered by a loan from the restaurant.
Arias was a District 4 representative on the city commission from 2018 to September 2023, when he resigned for personal reasons.
Arias applied for his old seat when his replacement, Renee Hayoz, resigned in August to become assistant city manager. Hayoz was hired this month to be the future city manager after Chacon retires at the end of the year.
Arias and two other candidates were interviewed by commissioners in September. The commission chose Clayton Thorne to fill the District 4 seat.
An attempt to reach Arias for comment by his cellphone was unsuccessful.