Oct. 23 – A state Department of Public Safety employee is accused of claiming more than $18,000 in unworked hours over the course of nearly a year.
Angela Colon-Rosa, 51, faces a slew of charges in connection with the alleged time card fraud, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court. She faces 32 fourth-degree felony counts of fraud and receiving public money for services not provided, and six misdemeanor counts of fraud.
Colon-Rosa, a Rio Rancho resident, worked as a supervisor in the department’s unit that manages the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network. The relatively new unit’s work involves an interdepartmental project to track weapons involved in crimes across the state by building a database of unique markings they place on shell casings.
Colon-Rosa did not respond to messages seeking comment on Wednesday.
New Mexico State Police investigators allege that Colon-Rosa regularly logged hours and received compensation for the time she did not work from May 2023 to March 2024. According to the criminal complaint, Colon-Rosa was paid at least $18,542.49 during the entire period for regular hours and overtime.
State police investigated the work hours she claimed, along with records of her emails, network logins and work badge used to access State Department facilities, the complaint said.
Investigators questioned Colon-Rosa in late June about the alleged timecard fraud, the complaint said. She said she had been working from home with her supervisor’s approval, and her duties included reviewing and drafting policies and procedures related to the department’s NIBIN program, and preparing and giving presentations around the state , the police wrote.
Colon-Rosa told investigators that she often recorded her work hours before going to work, and that it was possible — albeit “unintentional” — that she did not correct the errors on her time card before she was paid.
She told state police “that she knew other people who had committed similar acts and had received a ‘report,’” the investigator wrote.
The incident is the second related to time card fraud at the agency this year. A state trooper from Gila was accused of falsifying his time cards throughout 2023 and collecting about $16,000 in fraudulent wages.
Former state police Lt. David Neil was arraigned in court Monday on charges related to the case, and pretrial conferences are scheduled through March 2025.
Colon-Rosa will appear in court on November 14.
