FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JUNE 16, 2014

GOVERNOR MARTINEZS FORMER
CAMPAIGN MANAGER PLEADS
GUILTY TO COMPUTER INTRUSION AND
FALSE STATEMENT CHARGES
ALBUQUERQUE Jamie Estrada,
41, of Los Lunas, N.M., pleaded guilty this
afternoon to the unlawful interception of
electronic communications and false
statement charges arising out of the
unlawful interception of wire
communications intended for others,
including New Mexico Governor Susana
Martinez and members of her staff.
In announcing Estradas guilty plea,
U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez said,
Each and every one of us has a right and
an expectation of privacy in our electronic
communications, including our emails, and
those who violate the law by diverting,
stealing or otherwise misappropriating our
private communications should face serious
consequences. At a time when so much of
our personal, professional and financial
information is repeatedly transmitted on a
daily basis by email and other wireless
devices, the Department of Justice is
committed to protecting Americans from
those who seek to violate their privacy.
The right to privacy has been a
cornerstone of our democracy since its
founding and remains true today in our
high-tech world. All Americans, regardless
of the jobs or the positions they hold,
deserve to have their emails and other
computer transactions protected from
criminals who would steal and exploit
confidential information for unlawful
purposes, said Special Agent in Charge
Carol K.O. Lee of the Albuquerque Division
of the FBI. I thank the FBI special agents
and professional staff who worked on this
case, as well as the U.S. Attorneys Office
for their successful prosecution. While
much has changed since our nation was
established, one thing has not: Americans
rely on their government to protect their
rights, and that's a duty the FBI takes very
seriously.
Estrada was charged in a 14-count
indictment filed in May 2013. The first 12
counts of the indictment alleged that,
between July 2011 and June 2012, Estrada
unlawfully intercepted wire communication
intended for individuals who had email
accounts on an internet domain owned by
the Governors political organization. The
final two counts charged Estrada with
making false statements to the FBI in Sept.
2012, in which he denied taking certain
actions to unlawfully intercept wire
communications as charged in first 12
counts of the indictment. The indictment
subsequently was superseded in Oct. 2013
and May 2014 to add two more false
statement charges.
According to court filings, in summer 2009,
Governor Martinez, who was then the
District Attorney in Dona Ana County, N.M.,
began assembling a political campaign as
she prepared to enter the Nov. 2010
gubernatorial race. In July 2009, a political
supporter of the Governor registered an
internet domain designated as
susana2010.com<http://susana2010.com>
(the Domain) for a two-year period through
an online service. The supporter donated
the Domain, including its username and
password, to the Governors political
organization. The username and password
were required for making administrative
changes to the Domain, including posting
content to the Domains website and
creating email accounts associated with the
Domain. They also were required to renew
the registration for the Domain, which was
scheduled to expire on July 18, 2011. As
the owner of the Domain, the Governors
political organization had the exclusive right
to renew the registration before it expired
and during a 42-day grace period following
the expiration date.
During the gubernatorial campaign, the
Domain became an important tool for the
Governors political organization. Members
of the campaign staff, including the
Governor, maintained email accounts on
the Domain which they used to
communicate with each other, the
Governors political supporters, and the
media. Estrada, who joined the Governors
political organization as the campaign
manager in July 2009, was provided with
the username and password for the
Domain. When Estrada left the campaign
in Dec. 2009, the Governor requested that
he cooperate in efforts to remove his
access to and privileges regarding the
campaigns accounts.
After Governor Martinez was inaugurated in
Jan. 2011, the Governor, members of her
staff and others continued to use the email
accounts associated with the Domain. In
July 2011, individuals who had email
accounts on the Domain began receiving
reports that emails sent to those accounts
were bouncing back to the senders and
soon determined that the emails were not
getting delivered because the Domain had
expired. Their efforts to re-register the
Domain were unsuccessful because they
could not locate or recall the Domains
username and password. In July 2011 and
as part of their efforts to locate the
username and password, the Governors
staff asked Estrada to provide this
information and he did not respond.
During todays hearing, Estrada entered
guilty pleas to Counts 6 and 16 of the
second superseding indictment, charging
him with unlawful interception of electronic
communications and false statements,
respectively. In his plea agreement,
Estrada admitted that on July 29, 2011, he
logged onto the Domain and altered the
customer profile using a fictitious name with
a Colorado address. Estrada also admitted
renewing the Domain under the fictitious
name and paid for the renewal with a pre-
paid gift card so that the renewal could not
be traced back to him.
According to the plea agreement, Estrada
changed the settings for the Domain to
direct all incoming email to an email
account he controlled so that the emails
were routed to him instead of the intended
recipients. From July 2011 through June
2012, Estrada intercepted hundreds of
email messages intended for recipients at
the Domain, including the Governor. The
intercepted emails included personal
emails, internal political communications
and emails from ordinary citizens to the
Governor or her staff. In his plea
agreement, Estrada admitted sharing the
emails he unlawfully intercepted with the
Governors political opponents to
disseminate the emails to news media and
other outlets.
Estrada admitted unlawfully intercepting an
email dated Jan. 4, 2012, which was
entitled Confidential RGA [Republican
Governors Association] Update and was
intended for the Governor, as charged in
Count 6 of the second superseding
indictment. In his plea agreement, he also
acknowledged unlawfully intercepting the
eleven other emails described in Counts 1
through 5 and 7 through 12 of the
indictment.
Estrada also admitted making false
statements to FBI agents on Sept. 19,
2012, when they executed a search warrant
at his residence. Specifically, Estrada told
the FBI agents that he had not paid for the
renewal of the Domain using a pre-paid gift
card as charged in Count 16 of the second
superseding indictment. In his plea
agreement, he also acknowledged making
the false statements charged in Counts 13,
14 and 15 of the indictment.
Under the terms of the plea agreement,
Estrada faces a sentence of zero to a year
and a day in federal prison. The remaining
components of Estradas sentence,
including the length and conditions of his
supervised release and any fine or
restitution, will be determined by the court.
This case was investigated by the
Albuquerque Division of the FBI and is
being prosecuted by Assistant U.S.
Attorneys Fred J. Federici and Jeremy
Pena.