A guy who was once trusted with distributing scholarship money to aspiring New Mexico beauty queens has acknowledged embezzling the money meant to support young competitors in obtaining an education and a chance to win the title.
Greg Smith, the former executive director of the Miss New Mexico Scholarship Organization, entered a guilty plea in a protracted embezzlement case about seven years after prosecutors charged him with misappropriating funds intended for pageant winners.
The 62-year-old Smith accepted a plea agreement last month in which he acknowledged using the organization’s funds for private activities, such as buying bull semen for breeding.
According to court documents, Smith has entered a guilty plea to two charges of embezzlement involving sums greater than $250 but less than $500.
Prosecutors dropped sixteen more felony charges that had previously depicted a much more comprehensive picture of alleged corruption surrounding the state pageant system in exchange for the plea.
For a guy who formerly held one of the most prominent leadership roles in New Mexico’s pageant circuit, the controversy represents a spectacular fall from grace.
The case began in 2019 when Roosevelt County District Attorney Andrea Reeb and New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas announced a broad grand jury indictment against Smith.
Authorities at the time claimed that the former pageant supervisor, who oversaw the Miss New Mexico Scholarship Organization from 2015 to 2018, had withheld scholarship money owing to candidates.
Greg Smith, the former executive director of the Miss New Mexico Scholarship Organization, entered a guilty plea almost seven years after prosecutors charged him with embezzling scholarship funds meant for pageant competitors.
After accusing Greg Smith of withholding the funds, Stephanie Chavez, the 2016 Miss New Mexico winner, became one of the most vocal participants in the scholarship controversy.
“The executive director withheld that scholarship money, and then personally spent that on ridiculous items,” said Balderas, pointing out that some of the withheld funds were used on ranching-related business expenses. “He was a bull breeder, and he used some of this money even on bull semen,” stated Balderas. Prosecutors claimed that some of the scholarship money Smith withheld from pageant contestants was instead spent on purchases related to his cattle breeding business.
Smith was charged with eighteen felonies by the grand jury, including embezzlement, fraud, tax evasion, racketeering, and writing worthless checks.
The national Miss America organization had given Smith about $21,000, which was intended only for scholarship recipients from prior years, according to the New Mexico Department of Justice.
“When he took over the organization, he was provided approximately $21,000 from the National Organization for the express purpose of paying out scholarships to the remaining contest winners from 2014 and previous years,” the attorney general’s office stated in a 2019 press release. “He was provided the amount owed and the information for the contestants, but failed to distribute the scholarships owed.”
Among the casualties is Stephanie Chavez, the 2016 Miss New Mexico pageant winner.
In 2019, then-New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas brought the accusations to the attention of the country by claiming that Smith had bought bull semen with money from an organization.
Miss New Mexico Stephanie Chavez claimed that after her worries regarding missing scholarship payments were purportedly disregarded, she got in touch with the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office.
“I feel very relieved with what we’ve found and I hope that Mr. Smith is held accountable for his actions,” Chavez told KRQE in 2019. Prosecutors claimed that some of the scholarship money Smith withheld from pageant contestants was instead spent on ranching-related purchases connected to his cattle breeding business.
“This organization kind of prides itself on giving women their voice, and it’s ironic that I was kind of silenced when I came out and spoke out about this,” Chavez said, explaining to the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office that she had to report Smith after she claimed that no one paid attention to her concerns regarding the scholarship funds that were being withheld.
When the charges were announced, then-Attorney General Balderas stated, “My office is dedicated to ensuring that vulnerable New Mexicans are protected from those who prey upon them, and we look forward to presenting this case to a jury.” Smith was also accused by the authorities of using the organization’s bank accounts to conduct personal financial transactions while serving as executive director.
Some of Greg Smith’s Facebook images show him as a rancher and former director of the New Mexico pageant. This photo was taken in September of 2016 at the Miss America Pageant.
“This organization kind of prides itself on giving women their voice, and it’s ironic that I was kind of silenced when I came out and spoke out about this,” said Miss New Mexico 2016 Stephanie Chavez, criticising the pageant organization’s handling of her complaints.
Two years of probation and more than $12,000 in reparations are part of Greg Smith’s plea deal. Smith is pictured here in 2017 with a few pageant competitors.
However, the lengthy criminal case quietly progressed toward a negotiated settlement rather than going before a jury.
Smith will serve two years of probation after admitting guilt to the two embezzlement counts in the April plea deal. According to court documents, he also consented to make restitution of more than $12,000.
As part of the plea agreement, he must compensate three previous pageant competitors.
Stephanie Chavez will receive $2,458.78 from Smith, Madison Belcher will receive $6,003.70, and Sherry Smith will receive $3,625.
After years of dealing with accusations that threatened to destroy Smith’s reputation in the New Mexico pageant scene, the agreement significantly decreased his legal exposure.
For many years, the Miss New Mexico Scholarship Organization offered young women looking for leadership development, networking opportunities, and college finance through the Miss America system a route.
Prosecutors claimed that instead, participants were left waiting for scholarship funds that never showed up.
Chavez would get $2,458.78 in restitution under Smith’s plea deal related to the scholarship money that prosecutors claim was taken from competitors.
The Miss New Mexico Scholarship Organization offered scholarship money to several applicants, but the money was never given, according to the prosecution.
When the accusations initially surfaced, the pageant community in New Mexico was shocked, especially since the money in question was purportedly set aside especially for previous winners who were anticipating scholarship payments.
Before the allegations were widely known, Smith oversaw the group throughout a difficult time between 2015 and 2018.
According to court documents obtained by People, the plea deal ended the criminal case without a trial, and the prosecution dropped the remaining counts, which had previously included accusations of tax evasion and racketeering.
Smith has refrained from making any public remarks regarding the plea deal.
