Date of Offense
Statement
Adult Probation and Parole Officer Michelle Acosta and previous officer Stefon Najar was placed under investigation in the Roswell District Office by Susan Pautler who was the previous region manager. They were conducting home visits and left the state vehicle running. An individual jumped in the vehicle and drove it to a different location not too far away. Pautler said the two officers violated policy in regards to leaving the vehicle running and unlocked. The officers were fired and they fought it through arbitration. During the arbitration and with the statements provided by other witnesses, Michelle and Stefon were able to prove Pautler provided false statements and falsified records. This was also the opinion of the arbitrator. Pautler resigned from the New Mexico Corrections Department and her last day was December 19, 2025. An IPRA can be submitted to request the investigation but the Corrections Department deny almost all requests and have had numerous lawsuits for not complying with records requests. Pautler's credibility should be questioned.
She had at least one prior investigation with the Corrections Department for having an inappropriate relationship with Wes Hatley who was an officer she was supervising. Both Pautler and Hatley were having the affair on their spouses and the spouses found out about it. Pautler cannot be trusted in a position of authority over male officers. I was a witness in this investigation and Pautler approached me along with previous Kristy Muller asking me to lie during the interview and state that another officer was lying and just trying to cause drama and I refused to lie. I dealt with 8 years of retaliation from Pautler following this investigation.
During her time as region manager, the entire Hobbs District Office resigned as well as the majority of the Roswell District Office. This was due to Pautler's retaliation tactics and hostile work environments she created. There were multiple reports submitted about Pautler about misconduct.
