The wheels of justice are turning slowly for UNM senior running back Quincy Wright -- at both the state and University levels.
In January, detectives from the Albuquerque Police Department began investigating Wright's involvement with the alleged forging of nine Oklahoma drivers licenses, which were found at a local Kinkos. Two of the UNM football players whose names and pictures appeared on the bogus I.D.'s implicated Wright in the forgeries.
The case was turned over to the district attorney's office in early February, said APD spokesman Jeff Arbogast.
"The counts of forging drivers licenses we were looking at are those recommended to us by the APD detectives working on the case," said Richard Bowman, deputy district attorney in charge of the matter. "We have reviewed the case and accepted it for prosecution."
Bowman said the next stop for Wright's case is the pre-prosecution unit -- a program within the district attorney's office for first-time offenders charged with nonviolent crimes. If the case meets the pre-prosecution criteria, Wright will be placed on probation. To complete the program, he may be ordered to do community service or pay reparations.
"The pre-prosecution unit will report to the probation staff on a regular basis as to whether or not (Wright) is completing the steps of the program," Bowman said.
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If Wright completes the program, no charge will appear on his record. However, if the case does not meet the pre-prosecution unit's criteria, it will either go before a grand jury, or Wright's attorney will be allowed to suggest a pre-indictment plea agreement, Bowman said.
Bowman added that it could take up to two weeks to determine if a case is eligible for the pre-prosecution program.
UNM Dean of Students Randy Boeglin said the outcome of Wright's case at the state level has had no bearing on possible UNM sanctions, as the University has not identified a tie between the off-campus activity and a compelling student interest.
"I have met with the student and reviewed the APD file," Boeglin said. "At this point, the University is not going to take any action in terms of violations of the Student Code of Conduct. However, I have reserved the right to reopen the case if any new information comes to light."
He added that the University is looking at some of the same evidence as the district attorney's office, including a home computer seized from Wright's apartment.
Police have been investigating a possible history of forgery based on evidence discovered on Wright's home computer.
Boeglin said that to date, there is no indicator that any information had been uncovered that would bring the case back to the table.
