Dona Ana jail administrator bonds out of jail; sheriff continues investigation

“This is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Those are Dona Ana County Sheriff Enrique “Kiki” Vigil’s exact words.

Vigil on Tuesday arrested Dona Ana County Detention Center Administrator Chris Barela.

Barela was arrested on charges of embezzlement, fraud, bringing a weapon into the jail and willful neglect of duty.

“We’ll treat everybody the same. it doesn’t matter if you’re a politician or an administrator,” Vigil said. “You will not have any conditions. You have an arrest warrant signed by a judge. You will get treated just like everybody else.”

Dona Ana County Manager Julia Brown said, “Nothing that I have seen up to this point has convinced either me or the county attorney that any criminal activity has occurred. So that’s why we haven’t instituted any personnel action against Mr. Barela.”

Captain Vicki Hooser is now in charge and she reports to County Manager Julia Brown. Brown says the sheriff’s office has no legal grounds to take over the jail in the first place.

Sheriff Vigil said he only did so Tuesday because he wanted to make sure the inmates weren’t in danger.

“I just didn’t want to have any disruptions or any riots going on this was just going to be temporary this was not going to be a permanent takeover of the jail like some ppl have been stating,” Vigil said.

Vigil tells Abc-7 he wanted to make sure order was maintained at the facility, because the allegations against Barela directly involve the Inmates Welfare Fund.

Court documents state Barela misused funds for things like employee meals at meetings and gym equipment for inmates that was later donated to Barela’s boxing gym.

County Manager Julia Brown says Vigil’s claim is false.

“If he actually thought that then it seems like since this investigation didn’t just start 24 hours ago, they’ve been investigating for six months at least and so I dont believe that it was an emergency that they needed to arrest Mr. Barela and create an environment where that kind of activity could have taken place,” Brown said.

Barela’s arrest has created an even bigger divide between the county and the Sheriff’s Office, but Brown refutes that claim. She says the tension is stemming from other issues like the county’s budget.

“I don’t think this was creating a divide, unfortunately there seems to have been an issue long before this came forward,” Brown said.

Sheriff Vigil says otherwise and believes Brown serving him a temporary restraining at a news conference was only a publicity stunt. Brown says she went to the facility to ask sherriffs deputies to leave, but they refused. That’s when she resorted to serving him while speaking.

“It was very innapropriate of her to come and even serve me in front while i’m holding the press conference. She could have waited until it was over,” Vigil said.

Barela bonded out of the jail in Lovington, New Mexico Tuesday night.

He is on paid administrative leave.

Sheriff Vigil says he has hired a forensic auditor who will look at the finances pertaining to the detention center. ABC-7 asked Vigil if there are any other persons of interest being investigated but he could not say.Brown is scheduled to be questioned.