Former Sunland Park Manager Reaches Plea Deal

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A former Sunland Park city manager faces five years of supervised probation for his role in a political scandal that involved a secretly recorded video of a mayoral candidate getting a topless lap dance.  62-year-old Jaime Aguilera has pleaded guilty to extortion and evidence-tampering charges related to the attempted blackmail of Gerardo Hernandez.

He acknowledged his role in the creation of the video and a photograph that showed Hernandez receiving the lap dance.

As part of a plea agreement, Aguilera will also testify in 16 other Sunland Park corruption cases that are pending.

That list of cases includes four against Daniel Salinas, the former Sunland Park mayor-elect and election rival of Hernandez.

Salinas is facing nearly three dozen charges that include extortion, bribery, fraud and illegal kickbacks. Salinas has pleaded not guilty.

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Information from: Las Cruces Sun-News, http://www.lcsun-news.com

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.