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DOC: Missing Email Trips Up Court Parolee Communications

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 The man accused of drugging, assaulting and killing a child in Albuquerque slipped through the cracks of the probation system because of a missed email, according to the state Corrections Department. Twenty-two other people may have as well.

The Probation and Parole Office says it never got the court order for supervised probation and random drug testing of Fabian Gonzales. It was sent via email along with other orders for other parolees, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican.

When Bernalillo County’s District Court sends those orders over, they don’t get a confirmation of receipt. Spokesperson Tim Korte says the administration was surprised to hear about these lost orders.

"So obviously we did an internal review when we saw the news report," Korte said. "Potentially that’s a serious concern if the probation department wasn’t receiving the judgments from the court."

The court didn’t get bounce back messages, he says, and they weren’t notified that an email address they were using wasn’t being checked.

The court and the Corrections Department are trying to coordinate about what’s been sent and what’s been received. It’s not clear whether there are even more people not being supervised or drug tested because of missed emails.

Marisa Demarco began a career in radio at KUNM News in late 2013 and covered public health for much of her time at the station. During the pandemic, she is also the executive producer for Your NM Government and No More Normal, shows focused on the varied impacts of COVID-19 and community response, as well as racial and social justice. She joined Source New Mexico as editor-in-chief in 2021.