Editor,
On Nov. 6, the Daily Lobo ran a story (“Judge: Former UNM president granted access to seized property”) about my being granted access to property that APD had seized. There were a couple of errors in the story that I would like to correct. I would like to emphasize that I was never a partner or associate of Mr. Flory. He was the sole owner, manager, webmaster and decision-maker on the board. Nor was I involved in the “recruitment” of any students or underage women. There was no human trafficking or racketeering involved. My case was never “subject to a grand jury investigation.” A state District Court judge declined to present the case to a grand jury, so there was never even an indictment.
Upon appeal by the local district attorney, the New Mexico Supreme Court rejected that appeal and ruled that I had not violated any New Mexico statute. The case is now officially closed.
Since I was so closely associated with and devoted to UNM for 48 years as a student, faculty member, staff member and administrator, I want to specifically apologize through the Daily Lobo to the students, faculty, staff and administration for the terrible mistake I made by being on that website at all.
My being essentially banned from the campus and any UNM facility by ex-president Schmidly has been particularly troubling to me.
Although his letter of June 24, 2011 to me imposed several supposed “temporary” sanctions “pending the outcome of the law enforcement investigations into (my) alleged criminal conduct,” I have not received any related correspondence from UNM over the two-and-a-half years since then. Where is there any adherence to the judicial canon of “innocent until proven otherwise” or to the due process detailed in the UNM Faculty Handbook in this long-term, continuing banishment?
In addition to my apology to the UNM community of which I was a proud and integral part for nearly 50 years, I also would like to issue a sincere public apology to my wife, to my family, to my friends and to the people of this state for my being on that website and for the discomfort, embarrassment or pain that I have caused.
I greatly regret and am very remorseful for my uncharacteristic, inappropriate and bad mistake in judgment for this aberrant behavior.
Sincerely,
F. Chris Garcia, Ph.D.
Editor’s note: The Nov. 6 Daily Lobo story in question, “Judge: Former UNM president granted access to seized property,” makes no reference to F. Chris Garcia engaging in “recruitment,” “human trafficking or racketeering” of students or underage women.
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