The previous administrator and clerk of a tiny southern Colorado city is charged with a number of felonies after investigators say she stole more than $26,000 in federal grants and loans meant for a reservoir undertaking.
Tyra Marie Avila, 47, is charged with theft, cybercrime, embezzlement of public property and forgery, all felonies, together with misdemeanor examine fraud, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation stated Tuesday.
Avila was the Aguilar city administrator, clerk and treasurer for 17 years earlier than she resigned in September 2024, in accordance with the company. Aguilar, a Las Animas County city of lower than 500 individuals, is positioned simply off of Interstate 25, 65 miles south of Pueblo.
Investigators say cash earmarked for an augmentation reservoir was mixed with the city’s common fund and used for “unauthorized private transactions and different city bills, in the end leaving contractors for the essential water undertaking unpaid,” state officers stated Tuesday.
In response to the Walsenburg-based World Journal, the $5.7 million water undertaking backed by the U.S. Division of Agriculture despatched the city right into a monetary disaster.
The undertaking was meant to guard the extra senior water rights of customers downstream whereas nonetheless ensuring city residents had sufficient water, the newspaper reported.
However the reservoir was plagued with design and safety issues after development began in December 2023.
State officers on Tuesday stated city leaders have since “taken steps to implement stricter monetary controls, together with establishing a separate account for the water undertaking accessible solely by the present mayor and a USDA official, to make sure the undertaking can transfer ahead.”
Avila was launched on $15,000 bail. Her subsequent courtroom date has not been set.
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