The former controller of the New Mexico Finance Authority pled guilty to three felony counts on November 29, 2012. There were two forgery charges and one for securities fraud.
He was sentenced to five years probation. The sentence includes the provision for a conditional discharge.
A special report from the Office of State Auditor dated December 12, 2012 stated:
…on September 20, 2012, a grand jury was convened to hear evidence in the case. While the grand jury did not indict {the former COO/CFO} on any of the charges, it did indict Mr. Campbell on the charges of Forgery and Securities Fraud. On November 29, 2012, Mr. Campbell pleaded guilty to Forgery and Securities Fraud and was sentenced to five years of supervised probation with a conditional discharge
There are several news reports of the guilty plea. You can find two examples from KOB TV and The Albuquerque Journal.
From what I can gather from news reports, a conditional discharge means that if you complete the probation without any further problems, the charges could be dismissed. My guess is that means if there is discharge that would not have an official felony conviction on your record. At the same time, one comment in published reports indicate he will have to disclose to any potential future employer that he entered a guilty plea.
Even if he gets a conditional discharge in the future, he will be unemployable in any finance or accounting job for the rest of his life
Next: I will have a series of posts discussing the official reports from the Office of State Auditor.