Coleman’s transfer delayed by money

By Bill Donovan
Staff Writer

Steve Coleman

GALLUP – Steve Coleman is still in town.

The local Indian trader who was sentenced to four and a half years on September 7 for shooting at the unoccupied home of a deputy sheriff and trying to burn down his counseling office is still being housed in the McKinley County Adult Detention Center.

Jail warden Donna Goodrich said it usually takes between one to four weeks to process an jailed inmate once he or she has been sentenced, but there is no date set yet on when Coleman will be transferred to a state prison.

The reason is that Coleman still has to have one more hearing before that transfer is done.

That hearing is on restitution, according to officials in the McKinley County District Attorney’s Office.

At the time he was sentenced, District Court Judge Robert Aragon was asked to allow Coleman’s family to get back the $100,000 they had paid in bail money to get Coleman released under house arrest.

The court still has that $100,000 and Aragon said before any funds are released, he was to have a hearing on restitution.

Coleman has been order to pay for the costs of repairing the deputy’s home as well as the counseling office.

The repairs to the deputy’s home, which still has 39 bullet holes in it, is estimated to cost $21,677. There has been no estimate on the cost of how much it cost to repair the office used by Connections.

Aragon has ordered that these costs, as well as some other court costs, be removed from the $100,000 before it is returned to the Coleman family.

Court officials said Monday that no date has been set as yet for that hearing.