Details Emerge in Block Scandal

Jerome Block Jr.

Santa Fe New Mexican - Just before 8 a.m. on May 17, 2010, Public Regulation Commissioner Jerome Block Jr. pulled away from the three-way stop at Pacheco Street and Camino de Monte Rey in his 2006 Mercedes-Benz sport utility vehicle and passed another vehicle, a city traffic citation shows. Reports state a city police officer pulled over Block and issued a ticket for careless driving, noting that the "roadway after the 3 way stop has a slope with a curve making it hard to see traffic." Block never responded to the ticket, ignoring a summons to show up at Santa Fe Municipal Court. As a result, on July 6, 2010, Block's driver's license was suspended for failure to appear, according to court documents filed recently by the New Mexico Attorney General's Office. More than a year later, Block still hasn't taken care of the careless-driving citation, adding yet another challenge to the troubles piling up on the 34-year-old elected official, who this week publicly acknowledged he's struggling with a prescription-drug addiction. "All he needs to do is come on in and appear before the judge," Santa Fe Municipal Court records custodian Sharon Romero said Wednesday. "But he hasn't done that." It's unclear why Block, who also has missed about a third of the Public Regulation Commission's meetings this year, never responded to the summons to appear in court or why he never took care of the ticket in the months following. Block couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday. To be sure, Block confronts much larger problems. The Northern New Mexico Democrat, already under indictment for alleged misusing public funds in his 2008 election campaign, has come under pressure from both major political parties to resign his $90,000-a-year post as his troubles have snowballed. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Details Emerge in Block Scandal