Prison employee-inmate visits questioned

SANTA FE (KRQE) - A state Department of Corrections employee has been allowed three unsupervised visits this year with an inmate who happens to be her husband, according to officials.

That appears to go directly against Department of Corrections ethics policy, which states that staff cannot visit inmates unless a warden approves it.

However, corrections officials refused to say who approved the visits. The incidents are currently under investigation, said Deputy Warden Joe Booker, Jr.

“Going forward there will be no more family visits between staff and inmates,” Booker said. “Including (the employee in question) absolutely.”

The employee’s name is Jeri Moya. She’s worked for the Corrections Department since 2006 as a case worker at Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Los Lunas.

Her husband, Jimmy Moya, served time at the Los Lunas facility until he was released in 2007. A year and a half after he got out, the couple married.

However, Jimmy Moya, 46, re-offended and was sent back to prison in November 2011.

Moya’s criminal record – which is more than two decades long – includes charges of burglary, theft and aggravated assault. He’s currently serving time at the state prison in Las Cruces for stealing a car, theft and possession of stolen property. He is scheduled to be released in September 2013.

Apparently he behaves himself in prison, however, because he was able to earn the unsupervised visiting privileges.

In another twist, Jeri Moya is in charge of managing inmates’ files and records. Booker told News 13 he doesn’t think she had influence over her husband’s case although that is part of the investigation.

Jeri Moya will keep her current position unless the investigation reveals irregularities, he said.

Whoever authorized the visits could be disciplined depending on the outcome of the investigation, Booker said.