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Witness tells jurors that Hopkins' UNM credit card withdrawals coincided with casino spending
Cody Hopkins, former University of New Mexico director of basketball operations, sits with his attorney, Paul Kennedy, on the first day of his trial in 2nd Judicial District Court.
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A forensic accountant described for jurors Wednesday how Cody Hopkins made cash withdrawals with his University of New Mexico-issued credit card while engaged in marathon gambling sessions at an Albuquerque-area casino.
The testimony came on the third day of Hopkins鈥� trial on a single count of embezzlement for allegedly using $63,000 in university funds for his own use in 2015 while he was director of basketball operations for the Lobo men鈥檚 team. Hopkins, 41, stepped down from the post in December 2015.
Hopkins denies that he stole or embezzled funds from UNM, his attorney, Paul Kennedy, told jurors in opening statements. Instead, Hopkins became overwhelmed by the amount of record-keeping the job required and 鈥渇ell behind bringing in his vouchers and justifying his receipts,鈥� Kennedy said.
The trial is scheduled to continue through Friday in 2nd Judicial District Court before District Judge Bruce Fox.
Edward Street, an accountant hired by the New Mexico Attorney General鈥檚 Office, which is prosecuting the case, told jurors that Hopkins repeatedly made cash withdrawals using his UNM purchasing card, or P-card, often at ATMs a short driving distance from Sandia Resort & Casino.
The withdrawals, often made in $800 increments, coincided with activity on Hopkins鈥� member card at Sandia Casino, said Street, an accountant with REDW Financial Accountants and CPAs in Albuquerque.
Sandia records showed Hopkins bought thousands of dollars in 鈥渃hips, tokens and other gambling instruments,鈥� sometimes over a period of two or three days in 2015, Street said.
Street said he based his analysis on a comparison of Sandia casino records obtained by the AG鈥檚 office with Hopkins鈥� UNM P-card records.
At times, Hopkins鈥� P-card activity was justified, or 鈥渞econciled,鈥� with legitimate expenses Hopkins incurred as a result of his work for the Lobos, Street said.
At other times, Hopkins鈥� P-card activity could not be reconciled with legitimate expenses, he said.
鈥淒uring the period when the activity was not reconciled, we noticed there was an increase in the cash withdrawals and we noticed that there was a substantial increase in activity at Sandia Resort & Casino,鈥� Street told jurors.
Street cited five periods in July and August 2015 when Hopkins made multiple cash withdrawals from ATM machines that correlated with activity on Hopkins鈥� member card at Sandia Resort & Casino.
For example, three cash withdrawals totaling $3,600 were made using Hopkins鈥� P-card between 5 a.m. and 12:20 p.m. on July 23, 2015, at the Bank of America branch in the 7600 block of Jefferson, 鈥渨hich is close to Sandia Resort & Casino, approximately 10 minutes away,鈥� Street said.
Those withdrawals coincided with the purchase of casino chips and tokens on Hopkins鈥� player card totaling more than $18,000 on July 23-24, 2015, he said.
Kennedy objected Wednesday to Street鈥檚 testimony, arguing that the data Street cited 鈥渨as not evidence鈥� and should not be presented to the jury.
Assistant Attorney General Andrew Coffing responded that the Sandia records had been introduced into evidence and that Street鈥檚 analysis was intended to clarify the data for jurors.
