Former Athletic Director Paul Krebs made his first appearance in 2nd District Judicial Court before Justice William Parnell on Friday. He entered no plea.
The court appearance was very short, lasting only five minutes or so. According to the prosecution, a preliminary hearing will be scheduled soon. He appeared with his attorney, Paul Kennedy.
Five felony accounts were leveled against Krebs, stemming from investigations surrounding the infamous Scotland trip in 2015 — during which, UNM said it paid $25,000 of public funds for boosters, Krebs, family and a few others to golf in luxury at Trump Aberdeen.
The complaints listed include money laundering, tampering with evidence and fraud amounting to a total of $20,000, criminal solicitation and making or permitting a false public voucher.
The New Mexico Attorney General’s office (OAG) released the Transparency Report in September 2018 regarding UNM’s alleged violations of two state transparency laws. The laws are the Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) and the Open Meetings Act (OMA).
The 32-page document prepared by Assistant Attorney General Dylan Large outlined 11 allegations against UNM for violated either OMA or IPRA. Also released in September were emails from Krebs regarding the Scotland trip.
According to the report, documents uncovered “reveal a disturbing pattern of concealment and deliberate misrepresentation” on the part of the University.
The released emails center around a $25,000 payment to the UNM Foundation — a private 501(c)3 that fundraisings and manages donations made to the University. According to his foundation profile Larry Ryan oversees advancement and development efforts for academics and athletics.
Krebs sent an email dated July 26, 2017 to his wife Marjori Krebs, who works as an associate professor in education at UNM. He instructed her to deliver a letter to Ryan. The letter was supposed to be from an anonymous donor. It read:
“Larry, I am writing to document the purpose of my $25,000 donation to the UNM Foundation. The money was given to support the stewardship and development efforts associated with the Athletics Department 2015 trip to Scotland. Please notify me if you need further explanation or information. Thank you, The Donor.”
He gave her directions to the office and directions for handing the letter.
“Larry expecting. Delete everything I sent when done so nothing discoverable in IPRA request,” Paul Krebs wrote in the email. “Including from your delete file.”
Danielle Prokop is a senior reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @ProkopDani.
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