Former county Democratic chairman kills self amid tax charges

Former county party chairman, longtime lobbyist apparently shot himself at dog park

Tom Sharpe | The New Mexican
May 07, 2010 - 5/8/10 5

Former Santa Fe County Democratic Party chairman, lawyer and lobbyist Robert Rivera died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot in a Santa Fe park Thursday — the same day a grand jury indicted him on 33 counts of tax evasion.

The indictments, charging he failed to pay state gross-receipts taxes from 2006 to 2008, were brought at the request of the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department, said District Attorney Angela "Spence" Pacheco.

Pacheco said Rivera's lawyer, Joseph Gribble in Albuquerque, was notified Thursday afternoon. Rivera shot himself at 3:30 p.m. at Frank Ortiz Park, the city's off-leash dog park off Camino de las Crucitas.

Rivera, 61, recently was reported to have been working in the office of House Speaker Ben Luján, D-Nambé.

"We last spoke to Rivera when he called during the last legislative session," wrote blogger Joe Monahan, who first reported Rivera's apparent suicide Friday. "Ever the loyalist, he reported on a speech given on the House floor by Majority Leader Kenny Martinez in which Martinez effusively praised Luján."

Rivera, who was single, was elected as chairman of the Santa Fe County Democrats in 1985, just 10 years after he moved to town, defeating longtime party worker Liz Muñiz in what The New Mexican described at the time as a choice of "youth and new ideas over experience."

Earl Potter, state party chairman when Rivera was county chairman, recalled that Rivera once worked for the law office of Harry Bigbee, a district judge, and became close to Eddie Lopez, the late state senator from Santa Fe, former Speaker of the House Raymond Sanchez and current Speaker Luján.

"Robert was a very sweet person," Potter said. "My wife liked him a lot and he was always great with her."

By 1987, some questioned if Rivera should retain the party post since he was spending more of his time in Albuquerque. His Santa Fe residence was repossessed, and he was reported to have defaulted on two other debt judgments — one on a note on an Española house and another for a student loan at the University of California, Berkeley. He stepped down as party chairman in 1989, but later served as a Democratic national committeeman.

Rivera, who was reprimanded by the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court in 1988, but not disbarred, began to practice law less and concentrate on lobbying — first for the New Mexico Horse Racing Association, the Southland Corp. (which owned convenience stores), the New Mexico Canopy Association and the Independent Community Bankers Association, then for Ruidoso Downs, other racetracks and Santa Fe Public Schools. His $14,168 dinner at Las Campanas on behalf of the New Mexico Mining Association was the second most expensive event paid for by a lobbyist during the 1998 Legislature.

Friends say Rivera developed a drinking problem but gave up alcohol in the 1990s. Although he no longer was a member of the New Mexico Bar Association or listed as a lobbyist with the secretary of state, Rivera continued to lavish contributions on politicians, including $2,300 to the successful 2008 campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives of Ben Ray Luján, son of Ben Luján, for whom Rivera was working most recently.

Last year, Rep. Rick Miera, D-Albuquerque, publicly returned a $250 campaign donation from Rivera, who had donated more than $10,000 to 30 legislative candidates, after the Albuquerque Journal reported that Rivera's firm owed $210,000 in gross-receipts taxes.

An employee of an accounting office for Robert J. Rivera said she used to field regular calls from creditors of the former lobbyist/lawyer, who used no middle initial, and that his most recent telephone number had been disconnected.

Two companies that Rivera incorporated — Robert Rivera Ltd. in 1988 and Government Services Inc. in 1990 — have been rendered inactive and revoked by the corporations division of the Public Regulation Commission.

City Police Chief Aric Wheeler said police have not yet formally identified Rivera and do not plan to release details on his apparent suicide. "We're really not going to release any information about the case other than that we believe there is no sign of foul play and the individual that was there at the dog park apparently died due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound," he said.

Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.

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