Jury Finds Former El Paso City Rep. Guilty Of Forgery

It took a jury of six women less than an hour to decide that former city Rep. Rachel Quintana is guilty of forgery.

Quintana, who left public office about two weeks ago, was accused of falsifying a former FedEx supervisor’s signature to get a discounted flight on Oct. 25, 2007. She was elected into office July of that same year.

Her defense argued that she falsified her former’s supervisor’s signature with his permission, and that even though she wasn’t working at the time she tried to get that discounted flight, she was still connected to the company because she was receiving workers’ compensation.

Quintana filed a letter of resignation that stated her last day would be Sept. 21, 2007, if FedEx couldn’t accommodate her schedule to attend budget sessions for the city. In the letter, she wrote that she was resigning only if ‘all options were exhausted’. Quintana said she even offered to be demoted, as long as FedEx would not make her work during city council or budget meetings. She said that offer was verbally denied by FedEx management. “I was trying to get them to help me keep my job. I was willing to do any type of job to stay”, Quintana testified.

On Sept. 20, the day before her resignation became effective, Quintana said her back gave out at work and she filed for workers’ compensation. “I’m not even sure how it happened”, said Quintana of her injury.

She was still receiving those medical benefits from the company about a month after her last day of work, on Oct. 25, 2007 — the day she is accused of falsifying the letter to get a discounted flight to Sacramento, California.

On that morning, Quintana went to the airport and tried to use non-revenue vouchers available only for FedEx employees, but Southwest Airlines representatives didn’t let her on board because she didn’t have her FedEx identification. Quintana had bought the vouchers while still actively working with FedEx and said she didn’t think it was against regulations to use them later.

A customer service representative for Southwest Airlines testified Tuesday that Quintana was ‘threatening’ and rude when she went to the airport that first time.

Quintana, who testified Wednesday, said, “I absolutely was agitated. Looking back, I wouldn’t have reacted like that. I absolutely did tell her I was a city rep.”

The Southwest Airline representative told Quintana that FedEx would have to fax them a letter verifying her employment. That’s when Quintana went to the FedEx office on Hawkins Blvd, where she once worked and met with her former supervisor, Albert Martinez.

Quintana testified that Martinez told her he didn’t have time to write the letter, but authorized her to do it and sign it for him. “He told me just not to bother him with it anymore”, Quintana testified.

“Did you think that when you signed Albert Martinez’s signature, you were committing forgery?” asked her attorney, Stephen Peters. “No, I had his permission to do it” said Quintana. She said she “still felt connected to the company” because of the workers’ compensation benefits.

Albert Martinez denied ever authorizing Quintana to write or sign for him. “You gave her a piece of Federal Express letterhead and told her to sign your name and told her that you didn’t want to get more involved, didn’t you?” asked Peters. “No, sir, that never happened,” replied Martinez.

The prosecution argued that Quintana most likely stole the letterhead from a supervisor’s desk. “You left her alone in your office, where your letterhead was on your desk?” asked prosecutor John Briggs. “Yes,” replied Martinez.

After obtaining the letterhead from FedEx that day, Quintana went back to the airport. Before she did, though, Quintana called FedEx employee Abigail Flores and asked her to say Quintana was still working there if anyone called to verify.

“I thought it was strange,” testified Flores. “I knew that she wasn’t working anymore. That was the strangest part because it clicked and I thought, ‘Why would she do that, what is she up to?’ “

Quintana said she called Flores and told her to say that because she said she hadn’t told anyone she was receiving workers’ compensation and figured others would think she was not working there, when Quintana still felt ‘connected’ to the company, especially since she said no one had ever asked her to return her FedEx ID or badge and she had never even cleaned out her locker at FedEx.

Martinez testified first that he had asked for Quintana’s ID back, but under cross examination said he couldn’t remember if he or another manager had asked for it.

Quintana was allowed to board a plane using the non-revenue vouchers the second time she went to the airport. This time, with the falsified letter in hand.

Quintana did not get away with the discounted tickets. During a layover in Las Vegas, after Southwest had called to verify her employment and FedEx said she was no longer working for them, she was asked to pay the full price of the tickets. She said she paid about $300. That’s on top of the $70 she had paid for the discounted tickets.

Quintana remained calm and collected during the entire trial, even when her verdict was read. She left the courtroom through a side door minutes after finding out the verdict and refused to comment.

Sentencing begins this morning at at 8:30.

Quintana could face up to a year in prison and/or a $4000 fine.